Basketball Brawlers
by shadowjinx
Summary: The Brawlers join basketball, but things get messy when the championship arrives and their school rival The Gundalians are doing everything they can to prevent the Brawlers from winning. May be rewritten due to lack of quality.
1. How It All Began

**OMG, after seeing my brother's basketball game today, I just HAD to make a basketball story with the Brawlers! It's kind of based on my experience on my school basketball team because we had to deal with a lot of hardships, but in the end, we pulled it through.**

**Pairings: ShunxAlice, RunoxDan, FabiaxRen, JoexChan-Lee WITH hints of JuliexBilly and AcexMira.**

**Note: Uhm I'm not sure if Dan had a father, but in this story, he has one.**

"Dan?" Dan's mom called from downstairs.

"Yeah, mom?" asked a sixteen year old boy. He had messy brown hair with matching eyes, although his eyes had a hint of red in them. Blue goggles were perched on his messy hair and he was wearing a blue shirt with a red jacket and black jeans.

"Please come into the kitchen. We need to discuss something with you."

"What could they possibly have to discuss?" asked Dan to his Bakugan partner, Drago.

"Did you do something wrong this time?" asked Drago.

"No, I don't think so…" Dan mumbled.

But Drago saw right through him and sighed. "What did you get on your math test?"

"You mean the one I took three days ago?" asked Dan.

Drago nodded.

"Er…an…" Dan mumbled something Drago couldn't quite understand.

"Sorry, couldn't catch that," said Drago.

"An F…" Dan said quietly, but clearly so that Drago heard it.

"Yep, you're in for it," said Drago. "Let's go downstairs before you get into even more trouble."

Dan put Drago on his shoulder and walked downstairs nervously to find his parents sitting at the dining table.

"Okay, if this is about that F I got on my math test, I'm so sorry and I'll study super, super harder next time! I promise!" exclaimed Dan.

Dan's mother's eyes widened and his father's expression turned from serious to surprised.

"Well!" exclaimed Dan's mom. "We didn't know that but thank you for telling us! I hope you're willing to keep that promise of yours to study harder, Daniel!"

Dan sweat dropped and winced at the same time. First of all, he got himself into trouble for nothing. Second of all, his mother had used his full name, indicating that he was in HUGE trouble.

"Calm down," said Dan's father to his mom. "We're not here to discuss his grades."

"Well then, what are we here to discuss about?" asked Dan as he took a seat.

Dan's mom sighed. "Bakugan," she said simply.

Dan cast a glance at Drago who merely shrugged.

"Look, we know it's your ambition and all that," started Dan's mother.

"But we think it's time you moved on," finished Dan's dad.

"WHAT! GIVE UP BAKUGAN?" Dan shouted.

"Not entirely give it up," explained Dan's mom. "Just give it a rest for a while. You've been playing this 'game' way too much, and we don't like it. We want you to have proper exercise."

"Bakugan IS exercise!" protested Dan.

"Really then?" asked Dan's father. "Explain to us how. We thought that you just commanded your Bakugan to do whatever using cards while you just stand there and watch the show."

"That's not true!" exclaimed Dan, although, it entirely was sort of true. "We kids do stuff too! We throw the Bakugan…and throw the gate cards…and hold up the ability cards…and…uh…"

Dan sighed, knowing he was defeated. Well, not that he had a chance anyways. Two grownups against a sixteen year old, no competition.

"Anyway, we want you to join a sport at school," said Dan's mom.

"Tomorrow, we'd like you to sign up for something active at school and then come home and tell us all about it. And know this: We will know if you're lying," warned Dan's father.

Dan gulped.

Silence followed…then, "Well! Now that that's settled, let's have dinner shall we?" asked Dan's mom cheerfully as she sat up from the table.

"Ugh…I'm gonna go up into my room…and change for dinner…" muttered Dan, as he started up the stairway.

"Oh, and Dan?" exclaimed Dan's mother as she started cooking.

"What?" asked Dan in a slightly irritated voice.

"You should invite your friends!" squealed Dan's mom, ignoring the tone of Dan's voice. "It'll be fun!"

"Hmm," thought Dan, thinking carefully as he walked up the stairs. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

**Yeah…a bit short, but I'll try to update tomorrow! Please review and tell me what you think about it!**


	2. Signing Up

**Okay, well, I said I would update today, so here goes!**

_Monday, after school…_

"So, Alice, do you have any plans right now?" asked Runo Misaki as she walked down the school hallway with her best friend. "My parents said you, me, and Julie could take a break from the restaurant today."

"Hmm, not really," answered Alice Gehabich. "I think I'm free this afternoon. Want to come over?"

"Yeah, sure, that would be-HEY, IS THAT DAN?" Runo shouted, pointing in front of her.

Alice followed her finger to the bulletin board, a board which held all the signup sheets for after school activities. Sure enough, Dan was standing in front of it, muttering to himself.

"I don't get it," said Alice. "What's wrong with Dan?"

"Oh, nothing, except for the fact that he NEVER SIGNS UP FOR ANY AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES!" Runo screamed, causing people in the hallway to stare.

"Well, why not?" asked Alice. "And please don't shout the answer this time. You're attracting a lot of attention to yourself."

"With Dan, it's always Bakugan every day, every minute he can," explained Runo. "I mean the first thing he does when the bell rings is rush to the park, challenging other kids to brawl with him!"

Before Alice could ask another question, Runo ran up to Dan and was about to tap him on the shoulder when she heard him mumbling.

"Okay…uh soccer? Yeah, right, I'll trip over my own feet…okay rule out baseball…football? Uh, no thanks…I'll break my neck getting trampled over by the other guys! Let's see…"

"Uh, Dan?"

"AH! WHO ARE YOU-Oh, Hi, Runo, what's up?" asked Dan.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the park or something brawling with other kids?"

"As much as I'd like to do that, I can't," replied Dan.

"Why?" asked Alice, who had managed to catch up to Runo.

"My parents think I'm playing too much Bakugan-"

"And I quite agree," mumbled Runo, but luckily for her, Dan didn't hear and continued talking as if nothing happened.

"-So they want me to sign up for a sport after school," finished Dan. "But…all of these sports…I just know I won't survive any of them!"

"Looks like the Basketball list is empty," Alice pointed out.

Dan looked at the signup sheet for Basketball. What Alice said was true. Unlike all the other sheets which were filled with names, the Basketball one was blank.

"Huh, why is that?" asked Dan.

"Because our school stinks at Basketball," replied Runo. "We've only won like one or two games, but that was just luck. Oh, but get this, in the last two years, we actually made it to the championships. But we got our butts kicked by the other school, whose basketball skills are wicked. Their team is called The Gundalians, and they're pro at basketball."

"And you know this because…" said Dan.

"Oh, Joe, you know, the guy Chan-Lee likes, was on the team last year. He told Chan all about it, and she told me," explained Runo.

"Well, that settles it!" exclaimed Dan.

"What do you mean?" asked Alice.

"This year's the year that The Gundalians get beat!" exclaimed Dan as he picked up the pen.

But before he could even write anything on the sheet, Runo slapped his hand. "Ow, what was that for?" asked Dan.

"Are you out of your mind!" yelled Runo. "You have no idea how basketball practice is!"

"Don't you just shoot baskets or something?" asked Dan.

"No, you idiot! You have to run hundreds of laps like almost every day and do exercises like 50 pull ups or 100 push-ups!" exclaimed Runo.

"Hey, I'm a Battle Brawler!" said Dan. "I can handle anything!"

Runo's eye twitched. "Suit yourself, just don't come crying to me when you break your neck or something." Runo started to walk away, but Dan grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Oh no you don't," smirked Dan. "You're signing up with me."

"WHAT THE! HELL NO!" shouted Runo.

"C'mon, please, Runo?" Dan begged, making puppy eyes.

Runo gave an angry sigh. She could never hate Dan. He always had a way of persuading her to do something. "Fine. But don't except me to go to every practice! I still have to work at the restaurant, you know."

She waited until Dan finished putting his name on the list, and then wrote her name. Then she turned to Alice and said, "Your turn."

"Me?" asked Alice. "Who said I was joining?"

Dan smirked. "Will you join if I get Shun to join?"

"Yeah, okay, wait what!" exclaimed Alice, suddenly realized she had fallen into a trap.

"Hey, Mr. Hotshot!" exclaimed Dan, waving to his best friend, Shun Kazami.

Shun, who was at the moment trying to get rid of his fan girls (a sight which made Alice sick to look at) glanced at Dan and mouthed "Help me."

Dan sighed and ran over to him. "Hey pretty ladies, Shun will go out with all of you, one day, but not today, okay? Right now, I'm going to have a little friendly chat with him to decide who he's gonna date first."

"Okay!" squealed the fan girls who immediately drew back.

"Dan," growled Shun, as Dan led him over to Runo and Alice. "That is NOT what I meant when I asked you to help me!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, but we have something important to discuss right now," said Dan, pointing at the basketball signup sheet which only showed two names, Dan and Runo.

"You're kidding," said Shun who raised his eyebrows. "Runo, I can sort of understand…but you Dan? You, signing up for a sport? That's just…there's no words to describe that."

"Well, my parents forced me so what could I do?" asked Dan. "Anyway, you're signing up with me!"

"Dan, I've got ninja practice with my grandfather," said Shun, but Dan wouldn't hear of it.

"C'mon skip a day or two, ask to practice earlier before basketball practice or something!" exclaimed Dan. "Besides, you owe me from saving you from those girls."

"Plus," Runo whispered in Shun's ear, "Alice said that she'd join if you joined."

Shun blushed a little and looked at Alice who blushed in return.

"Whatever," mumbled Shun as he added his name on the list.

"There ya go, Alice, now you have to sign up!" exclaimed Runo.

Alice lowered her head in defeat, but put her name on the sheet after Shun had finished signing his name.

"Whoo hoo!" exclaimed Dan. "This is gonna be fun! Four people, that's enough to form a team, right?"

"IDIOT!" screamed Runo, whacking him on the head. "There's supposed to be five players on each team when you're playing on the court! Plus, even if you did have five players, you need more people to join so you can substitute players!"

"Oh, yeah, I knew that," mumbled Dan as he rubbed his head.

Shun sighed. _What the hell is he thinking, signing up for a sport he doesn't even know the rules of? This is going to be an easy season for The Gundalians, but definitely not for us. _

**Please review! Don't worry, the other Brawlers shall enter the story soon!**


	3. Recruiting Others

**Well…it's the weekend! So I'm going to try to upload ALL of my stories. Okay…well…maybe not ALL of them. I've kinda lost my heart in **_**The Resistance**_** and **_**Forbidden Kingdom: Avatar Style.**_** I don't know why, I just don't seem inspired to write them at all or something. Don't get me wrong, your reviews inspired me GREATLY, but whenever I try to write a chapter…my body just shuts down. But I haven't deleted them because I know I will update in the future for sure, but I just don't know when. Anyways, I'm going to continue to work **_**on Basketball Brawlers**_** and **_**Akuamarin, the Master of Water**_** (which is a Naruto story, if you guys are interested.)**

"So if we need five people for form a team-" started Dan.

"WE NEED MORE THAN FIVE PEOPLE, DIDN'T I JUST EXPLAIN THAT!" screamed Runo.

"-Oh, right, if we need more than five people to form a team, let's go find everyone else!"

"But Dan," started Alice. "Tomorrow's that last day to sign up. The signup sheet will be taken down after lunch. Do we have enough time to recruit everyone? I mean, it's the end of school right now. Everyone's going home."

"She has a point," Shun agreed.

"You ALWAYS think she has a point," smirked Dan.

Shun shrugged. "But it's true."

"Let's try to hash this out," said Runo. "Julie's in cheerleading, oh she'll be easy, we can ask her after practice is done, which is in about ten minutes. Billy's probably watching her practice, but there's no doubt he'll be waiting for her after cheer practice. He always does. Jake has football, he's also easy. His practice time ends the same time as Julie's does. Marucho, well, knowing him he's probably at the school library or something, so we can ask him later. Fabia probably left already. She always likes to leave school early. I heard Joe and Chan are doing something together after school, so they probably left too."

"So, basically the only people we can ask now are Julie, Billy, Jake, and Marucho," said Dan.

"I guess so," said Runo.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Dan. "Let's go!"

Everyone sweat dropped as Dan took off at top speed.

"Wait," said Alice as they started to chase after Dan. "Who are we looking for? Julie, Billy, Jake, Marucho, who?"

"I don't know, Alice," said Shun who easily ran to the front of the group, being a ninja, "but when Dan thinks of something, there's no changing his mind."

~Basketball Brawlers~

"Your split at the end was totally awesome Julie! I can't believe how you managed to do that with the seconds you had left. The timing was perfect!"

"Thanks, Karla!" exclaimed Julie. "Oh, here's Billy, I've gotta go. See you guys later!"

"Bye, Julie!"

Julie ran to the figure running towards her, thinking it was Billy. But it wasn't.

"BILLY…Wait…you're not Billy! What are you doing here, Dan?" asked Julie, putting a hand on her hips and staring at the brown haired boy in front of her.

But before Dan could answer, Julie heard more footsteps and looked up to see Shun running towards them, followed by Runo and Alice.

"What's the rush, Dan?" asked Alice, panting heavily. Runo was having trouble breathing as well, but Shun didn't even break a sweat. He was probably used to running like this all the time.

"Guys, what's going on?" asked Julie, who was confused.

"Julie!"

Everyone turned to see Billy waving and running towards them. "I was waiting for you on the other side of the field, but oh well, I found you anyway. What kept you?"

Julie pointed to Dan who was also panting. Billy raised his eyebrows. "Uh, Dan?" asked Billy.

"Oh, Billy, perfect timing!" exclaimed Dan. "Wanna join basketball?"

"Eh?" asked Billy.

"Who are you asking" asked Julie. "Me or him?"

"Both of you!"

"Sorry, can't, I already have cheerleading practice," explained Julie. "I don't think I can do two sports at once. But I'll try to come to your games and cheer for you!"

"Uh…I'll think about it…" said Billy, scratching his head.

"The last day to sign up is tomorrow," said Shun. "Just saying."

"I don't know…" replied Billy.

"Oh come on, Billy, it'll be fun!" exclaimed Runo.

"And you can still meet Julie after practice you know," said Alice, always the logical one. "All sports' practices end at the same time."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it out," replied Billy. "So, where's the signup sheet?"

"We're getting there," said Dan. "But first, let's go find Marucho and Jake so we won't have to keep running back and forth."

"I wouldn't recommend telling Jake," warned Julie.

"Why not?" asked Shun.

"He's already got football practice," answered Julie.

"Oh, yeah, true but there's still Marucho!" exclaimed Dan as he took off running again.

"I swear," said Runo, as everyone after him again, "I don't know WHERE he gets his energy from."

~Basketball Brawlers~

"Finally! I finished all my homework!" exclaimed Marucho as he stepped outside of the library. He was about to turn and walk home when he heard someone calling his name.

"Marucho, wait up!"

"Huh?" Marucho turned to see Dan and everyone else. "Oh, hi guys, what's going on? Hey, where's Jake?"

"Home," answered Julie. "He usually goes home after practice. That's why me and Billy don't wait for him."

"So, Marucho, buddy, do you wanna join basketball with us?" asked Dan.

"Define 'us'," said Marucho, adjusting his glasses.

"Everyone here, minus Julie," replied Dan.

Marucho raised his eyebrows. "Including you?"

"Yeah…what's wrong with that? Why does EVERYONE always doubt me when I say I'm joining basketball?"

"It's just…uh never mind," said Marucho. "Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it, but I don't think I'm going to join."

"Do you have something against basketball?" asked Runo, titling her head to the side.

"Put it this way: Think about the guys on the other teams, and then compare them to me," replied Marucho.

Dan thought for a moment, but after a while, he could see Marucho's point. Basketball players were usually huge, while Marucho was really short. Really smart, but short for someone his age.

"Plus," said Marucho, interrupting Dan's thoughts, "I have lots of tests to study for, you know, being in Honors Class."

Marucho wasn't bragging. Everyone knew that. He was simply just stating a fact. "I understand," said Dan, a little disappointed.

Marucho smiled and tried to cheer him up. "Well if I can't join the team, I could maybe help you guys out by forming some strategies or something like that. I've read a lot about basketball and watched it a few times. Eh, I might have played one or two games during elementary school, but not that much. But I know enough to help you guys out."

"Really? Thanks dude," said Dan, giving Marucho a fist punch.

"Sure thing," replied Marucho.

"Okay, so tomorrow, we've gotta convince Fabia, Joe, and Chan-Lee to join! Let's do this!" exclaimed Dan, punching his fist in the air.

**Everyone else (Ren, the Gundalians, the members of the Resistance…yeah those people) will be in the story, so don't panic! I haven't forgotten about them! I shall add them to my story, but…you will all have to wait for them. I won't forget to add them. I won't, trust me. **

**And as usual, review!**


	4. Fabia, Joe, and Chan Joins the Game

**Thanks so much, RunoandAkizafan, Jazzgirl123 (Cupidella), Crystal Pearl, Star, white fang, big big misty fan, and Hawkgirl320 for reviewing. You guys rock!**

**Oh crud, forgot the disclaimer, lol: I don't own Bakugan…but wouldn't it be cool if they actually played basketball in the anime?**

"So, Dan," started Dan's mom as the family ate at the dining table in the kitchen, "which sport did you decide to join?"

_Huh, more like __FORCED __to join, _thought Dan, but he answered anyways. "Basketball," he answered as if it was nothing.

"Nice choice. I used to play that when I was in High School," replied Dan's father.

"Were you good?" asked Dan.

"Not really," laughed Dan's father. "My team lost every game!"

Dan sweat dropped. _Gee, I hope that doesn't happen to ME!_

~Basketball Brawlers~

_Tuesday, during lunch at school…_

"Hey, Fabia! Over here!" cried Alice, waving to her best friend, Fabia Sheen.

A girl with long, midnight blue hair, who was at the moment looking around the cafeteria for a place to sit, smiled when she spotted her best friend and walked over to where Alice and the rest of the Brawlers were sitting.

"Sup, Fabia?" asked Dan. "Are you going to be busy this school year?"

Fabia shrugged. "Probably not." _Why is he asking me this? Is he asking me on a date? I thought he liked Runo…_

"Well, then, how would you like to join basketball?" Dan asked.

_Oh, that's why, _thought Fabia with a wave of relief washing over her head. She didn't like Dan that way. Heck, she didn't like ANYONE at school that way. Lots of boys wanted to go out with her, but she wasn't interested. Runo, Julie, and Alice would always ask her, "Why?" every time she rejected a boy, and she would always answer, "He's not my type."

"Um, basketball?" Fabia repeated with uncertainty.

"Yeah, Dan wants everyone to join," replied Runo.

"I thought Dan didn't play-" started Chan-Lee, but Shun interrupted her.

"I know, we all thought Dan wasn't interested in sports. But his parents forced him to join, so he's making us to join," explained Shun.

"Well, good luck with that," said Joe. "I was on the team last year, but we barely won any games, thanks to the Gundalians. Those guys are tough!"

"Hey, come to think of it, why don't you join too, Joe?" asked Alice.

"You too, Chan," added Julie.

"Why?" asked Joe and Chan at the same time.

"You said it yourself, Joe," said Runo. "You were on the team last year. You know more than basketball than any of us. You could help us out, since well, hardly any of us know much about basketball, especially Dan here, who didn't even know how many players are needed." She glared at Dan at the last sentence, who in return, gave her a nervous grin.

"But…my team lost…" replied Joe.

"So what?" asked Billy. "You still have a great deal of knowledge about basketball."

"Okay, but why do you want Chan to join?" asked Joe.

"Two reasons," replied Dan. "One, because I want every one of my friends to join. And two, since she's your girlfriend…well…you can figure out the rest."

Chan and Joe blushed a little, but agreed to join.

"Hey, wait a minute," said Jake. "If you want all of your friends to join, how come you didn't invite Julie, Marucho, or me to join? Aren't we your friends too?"

"Dan asked me and Julie yesterday after you left, Jake," explained Marucho. "But Julie told him that she and you are already taking a sport. And I need a lot of time to study for my tests."

"Well, when you put it that way…" replied Jake.

"Hey, Fabia, you still haven't given us your answer yet," said Alice.

Everyone stared at Fabia, making her a little nervous.

"Do I have to?" asked Fabia. "I mean Marucho, Julie, and Jake aren't."

"But they have reasons," Shun pointed out.

"Besides," added Dan, "you don't do anything after school anyway. You always go home early when the bell rings."

Fabia shrugged. "Well I guess it wouldn't be too bad since you guys are joining as well."

"AWESOME!" exclaimed Dan. "So now we've got…uh…how many people?"

"Eight," Runo answered. "Honestly, when are you ever going to learn math correctly?"

"Now we all know why Dan got that F in our last math test," Billy smirked.

Everyone at the table laughed, except for Alice.

"Alice, what's wrong?" asked Shun.

"Remember when I said that the signup sheet will be taken down after lunch today?" asked Alice. "Well…it's…two minutes until the bell rings…"

It was as if that last sentence set off a nuclear bomb. There was chaos everywhere at the table. Shun rapidly threw his text books into his backpack, Dan was quickly scribbling down answers to the last questions of his math homework, Joe, Billy, and Jake shoved their last bits of food into their mouths, Marucho was quickly scanning the pages of his science book to prepare for a quiz, and all the girls were busy cleaning up the table and throwing everyone's garbage into the trash can.

After Alice had tossed her banana peel into the trash can, she glanced at her watch in horror and shouted, "ONE MINUTE!"

Everyone glanced at each other for a split second and then bolted down the school hallway in search for the bulletin board.

"Over here!" yelled Dan as he led the group down the hallway.

They reached the bulletin board just in time to see their P.E. teacher take down the signup sheet for basketball.

"HEY, MR. HARBEN, WAIT!" shouted Dan. **(A/N: I just made up that name right at the top of my head, lol)**

"Oh, Hi, Dan," said Mr. Harben glancing at the list. "Ah, I see you've signed up for basketball. But I'm afraid we won't be able to play this year, seeing there's not enough-"

"Oh, I think we can!" exclaimed Dan. "These are my friends, and they (well, most of them) want to join basketball too!"

Mr. Harben's face lit up. "Well! Sign your names before I put this signup sheet away!"

Fabia, Joe, and Chan-Lee quickly added their names to the list while Dan was mentally screaming in his head, _WHEW! THAT WAS TOO CLOSE!_

"Eight people, eh?" asked Mr. Harben as he consulted the list after the last person, which was Chan, had added her name to the list. "I think that's enough to form a team. First practice is tomorrow, right after school, in the gym!"

"Yes, sir!" exclaimed Dan.

**There are two reasons why I updated today:**

**1) I had some spare time, due to the three-day weekend.**

**2) (And this is the most important reason)**

**YOU GUYS REVIEWED! I got a ton of emails telling me that people reviewed, subscribed, favorited, and what not. You really know how to make a writer happy! Keep the reviews coming!**


	5. Missing the 1st Practice

**Thanks to those who reviewed the 4****th**** chapter: Sharm, JazzGirl123, shadowwing1994, RunoandAkizafan, and CrystalPearl. When I checked my email, I got a whole ton of reviews, so how could I NOT update? I MAY (notice the word may) finish this story pretty soon, because I've already got the whole plot planned out in my head, but hey, I have a life with school, friends, family, and such, so don't expect updates every day. But there will be one AT LEAST once a week (usually on weekends.)**

**On with the story!**

_Wednesday, 7__th__ period Math…_

Math…how Dan hated it. All those numbers mixed and matched with the alphabet. _I mean why couldn't they keep things simple as 1 2 3? _Dan thought. And then there were things such as pi, square roots, and Dan's worst enemy, fractions.

Suddenly, the speaker turned on and the principle's voice was heard throughout the school. "This is just a reminder to those who signed up for basketball to please head over to the gym after the bell rings. Thank you."

Dan glanced at the clock. There were three minutes until the bell rang, but Dan and the others had to complete a pop quiz that the teacher had given them the second they stepped into her classroom. _Wasn't that last test (the one that I got an F on) enough already? _Dan thought.

Most of the class had already finished and had handed in their quizzes to Mrs. Kerl. Runo and Julie were in Dan's class and had finished as well. Dan bit nervously on the eraser part of his pencil.

"One minute left," announced Mrs. Kerl as she took another quiz from another student.

_Yikes! _Dan thought. He tried to concentrate on his assignment, but he couldn't help staring at the clock which was ticking the seconds away as if it enjoyed torturing Dan like this. _Tick, tick, tick, _thought Dan. _Oh why couldn't the school get digital clocks? _**(A/N: I got that from Naruto, XD. Fits the situation, doesn't it?)**

Five seconds left…three…one…

BRIIIIIIIIIIIING!

_Oh well, school's over! _Dan thought. _Who cares if I get an F on this one, I'll just study harder the next time!_

Dan quickly packed up his things, handed in his quiz, and rushed towards the door along with Runo and Julie, but Mrs. Kerl called him back.

"Daniel Kuso!"

Dan skidded to a stop and turned to face an angry Mrs. Kerl. "Uh…yeah?" asked Dan.

Mrs. Kerl merely showed him his quiz. Dan hadn't even finished half of the problems on that paper. "Hehe…about that…" said Dan, giving his teacher a nervous grin.

"You are not excused," said Mrs. Kerl sternly. "You will be staying with me in my classroom, until you have learned your lesson."

"You mean I get to finish my quiz?" asked Dan, hopefully. Maybe he wouldn't get an F after all.

"No, because that wouldn't be fair to others," replied Mrs. Kerl. "I'm going to give you another assignment, which you will stay after school today in my classroom to complete."

"WHAAAAAAAT!" screamed Dan.

Runo and Julie, who had been waiting at the doorway for him, covered their ears with their hands. Several others outside of the classroom did the same.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot let you go until I know that you understand this concept," explained Mrs. Kerl.

An angry Runo stomped into the classroom. "Can you give us a minute?" asked Runo sweetly to Mrs. Kerl.

"One minute only," replied Mrs. Kerl.

Runo thanked Mrs. Kerl and dragged Dan outside of the classroom and into the hallway while Julie followed. Once they were out of earshot of Mrs. Kerl, Runo smacked Dan on the side of his head.

"OW, Runo!" shouted Dan. "Quit hitting me!"

"Well you deserve it!" Runo shouted back.

"Uhm…I gotta go…cheerleading practice…" said Julie nervously looking back and forth from the two. "See ya later!"

"Dan, you idiot!" yelled Runo as Julie left. "How are you going to be at basketball practice when you're stuck with Mrs. Kerl doing math problems?"

"Oh, man, I forgot all about that!" exclaimed Dan.

Runo face palmed. "I seriously don't know why I'm your girlfriend…"

Dan gave Runo his signature thumbs up and a grin.

Runo sighed. "Just make sure to come to the next practice, OKAY!"

Dan saluted and said, "Yes, Ma'am!"

~Basketball Brawlers~

_Inside the school gym…_

"Man, where the heck are they!" asked Billy.

"We're going to start practice soon," said Chan.

"Hi guys!"

"Runo!" everyone exclaimed as the bluenette opened the gym door and rushed towards them.

"Hey, where's Dan?" asked Fabia.

"Doing math problems with Mrs. Kerl," Runo answered.

Shun groaned. "Leave it up to Dan to miss out on the first practice."

"Hello, are you ready to play basketball?"

The group turned to see Mr. Harben walking towards them with a clip board and a basketball in his hands.

"Yes!" everyone exclaimed.

"Wait, we're missing someone," said Mr. Harben as he did a warm body count.

"Dan," answered everyone in at the same time.

"He's busy catching up on math," explained Joe.

"I see…" replied Mr. Harben. "Well I wish he would've told me sooner…but anyways, let's move on to practice. See those cones I've placed here?"

Everyone looked around the gym to see four cones placed at the four corners of the gym.

"I want you all to do 10 laps around the inside perimeter of the gym! You MUST go around the cones, no cutting or making short cuts. I've got my eyes on you and if I see ANYONE not following directions, that person will have to do the whole 10 laps OVER AGAIN! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" The group nodded nervously. This coach was a bit scary.

"Now, go!" Mr. Harben commanded as he blew his whistle.

Shun took the lead easily, followed by Fabia, Chan-Lee, Joe, Runo, Billy, and Alice. Alice was lagging behind a lot, something Shun noticed. He slowed down his pace, letting everyone else run ahead of him. When Alice reached him, he ran alongside her.

"You okay?" he asked as they jogged together.

"It's just…I've never been much of a sporty person before…and it's not even the second lap, yet, I'm already getting tired!" Alice exclaimed.

"Just keep pace with me," said Shun, "and you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Shun," replied Alice, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"About time Mr. Strong and Silent found a girlfriend," smirked Runo as everyone else sniggered.

**All of the teachers' names are mine, so NO STEALING unless I give permission. **

**All the pairs I've mentioned (except for AlicexShun and FabiaxRen) are currently dating, just saying.**

**I might update again today, it all depends on how much time I have and how many people review. If people don't review, I won't know if people like it or not so I don't know if I should update. Catch my drift? Thanks, so please review! **


	6. Missing a 2nd Practice

**Thank you RunoandAkizafan, JazzGirl123, HoennPrincessMay, DawnBerlitz from DA, Hawkgirl230, and SilverWings104 for reviewing. Your reviews did the trick, so I'm updating again today! **

_Thursday, during school…_

*Huff* *Pant* *Huff*

Dan was speeding down the hallway looking for his science class. There was only one minute until the bell rang, and he was going to be late if he didn't reach his classroom in time.

BRIIIIIIIIIIING! BAM!

Dan banged the classroom door open and barged in. "Oh, Yeah! I did it, I made it in time!"

"Excuse me?"

"Huh?" Dan took a good look inside the classroom, only to find a bunch of seniors and a confused teacher staring at him.

"Oh...sorry…wrong classroom…um…I'll just go now…" Dan quickly exited the classroom and closed the door behind him.

"Well…that was embarrassing…" he mumbled to himself. He slowly walked down the hallway until he found the correct classroom number. He blinked to make sure that he read the number correctly and entered the room.

"Mr. Kuso, you're late."

Dan gave a nervous grin to his science teacher, Ms. Clay. "I walked into the wrong classroom…so…"

"Dan, you've been at this school for many years now. That is not an excuse."

Dan lowered his head and remained silent. "As punishment for being late five times already this semester, I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you a detention."

"WHAAAT! NOT DETENTION!"

"Those are the consequences," said Ms. Clay. "Please go to your seat."

As Dan took his seat, Jake, who was sitting behind Dan, leaned over and whispered to Billy, "Some week Dan the man is having, huh?"

Billy nodded as Ms. Clay began her lesson.

_During lunch…_

BANG! Runo had slammed her head on the lunch table when Dan told her he had detention. "YOU'RE GOING TO MISS OUT ON BASKETBALL AGAIN?"

"HEY, IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" exclaimed Dan, standing up from the lunch table.

"NOT YOUR FAULT?" Now Runo was standing as well.

"OKAY, MAYBE IT IS, BUT STILL-"

"CUT IT OUT!"

Everyone turned to Alice, shocked. Alice rarely yells. "Please…I hate to see friends fighting like this."

Runo and Dan glared at each other and then sighed and sat themselves back down.

"But seriously, Dan," started Fabia. "How many practices are you planning to miss?"

"This will be the final one…I promise," said Dan. "Besides…I'm not the only one who's going to be missing practices."

"What do you mean?" asked Marucho.

"Julie, Runo, and Alice are still working at the restaurant, aren't they?" Dan asked.

"Well, when we told Runo's parents that we joined basketball, they just merely told us to come to the restaurant right after practice was over, so technically, we aren't going to miss any practices at all," explained Julie.

Dan grumbled, knowing he was the only one that had missed practice. It was really embarrassing.

"So, do we have practice tomorrow too?" asked Chan.

"Yeah, we have practice every day," answered Joe. **(That's how it is at my school, I don't know about your guys'.)**

"When's the next game?" asked Jake.

"Two weeks," answered Billy.

"Yeah, and that means…YOU'D BETTER COME TO THE NEXT PRACTICE, DAN!" Runo screamed, causing the whole cafeteria to suddenly grow quiet.

Alice sighed. Runo was always drawing attention to herself.

"Don't worry!" exclaimed Dan. "Third time's the charm!"

"Meaning?" asked Shun.

"Meaning I'll be there for sure at the next practice, no doubt about it!"

_After school in the gym…_

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, today, we are going to-WHERE'S DAN NOW?" asked the coach.

"Detention," everyone answered together.

Mr. Harben's eye twitched. "Well, I was hoping we would be able to pick a team name and a team captain today…but we need the whole team in order to do that. Anyways how about we start of this practice with another ten laps?"

Everyone groaned, but obeyed and started running around the cones.

_After practice…_

"Before you leave, please give this message to Dan," said Mr. Harben. "Tell him that if he misses another practice, I'm going to have to drop him out of the team."

Everyone exchanged looks, but answered, "Yes, Coach."

_Dammit Dan, _thought Shun as everyone went into their designated locker rooms. _You better not screw up tomorrow. _

**I know this is SUPER short, but I couldn't think of anything else to write in this one. So…here ya go! Two chapters in one day!**


	7. I Wish Time Would Slow Down Today

**Thank you Hawkgirl230, RunoandAkizafan, Dawn Berlitz from DA, and Sharmi for reviewing.**

**Well, it's the weekend! So here's an update!**

**Chapter 7 **

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Dan…wake up."

"Huh?" Dan groaned as he opened his eyes and sat up in bed. Next to him on his bedside table was his alarm clock, still beeping. Dan shut it off, laid back down, pulled the blankets over him again and was about to go back to sleep until he remembered…

"OH SHOOT!"

Dan threw the covers off of him, nearly hit poor Drago, who was also perched on Dan's bedside table, in the process, jumped out of his bed like a ninja, and landed on his butt.

"Ow, maybe I should ask Shun how he does this without getting injured," mumbled Dan as he sat up.

"Dan, why the rush?" asked Drago.

"I can't afford to be late again!" exclaimed Dan. "I have to get to school on time today, and be on my best behavior as I can be to avoid detention, try to get all good grades, especially in math, so I won't have to stay behind in Mrs. Kerl's class after school! That way, I can finally get to go to my first basketball practice!"

"Well, standing here and talking won't get you anywhere," said Drago.

"AH! You're right!" exclaimed Dan, as he ran into the restroom and slammed the door shut.

Drago sweat dropped. "Humans…" he mumbled.

~Basketball Brawlers~

*Huff* *Puff* *Huff*

"Dan, slow down!" exclaimed Drago who now was perched on Dan's shoulder. Dan was running at full speed down the school hallway looking for his science class again.

"Can't do that buddy," said Dan, still running. "Gotta get to class on time!"

"But Dan-"

"Drago, don't worry, I've got it all under control."

"But you're going to crash into-"

WHAM! Drago's warning was too late.

"Aw man…" Dan groaned as he clutched his stomach while he was sitting on the floor. He had ran into someone, but who?

"Are you choosing the path to becoming a ninja now, like me? Is that why you're running so quickly?"

"SHUN!"

Dan sat up quickly. "Hey, man, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be in class?"

Shun raised his eyebrows. "What for?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT FOR? YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE, AND THEN YOU'LL GET A DETENTION AND YOU'LL MISS PRACTICE LIKE ME!"

"Dude, chill," said Shun calmly. "The bell hasn't even rung yet." Shun pulled out his phone and checked the time before showing it to Dan. "See? We've got 6 minutes left."

"Oh yeah, well, I knew that," said Dan, embarrassed. "I was just testing to see if you were awake or not."

"Sure," smirked Shun.

BRIIIIIIING!

"Oh crap! Did 6 minutes really go by that fast! Quick, I've gotta get to my science class!"

Dan was about to run off again, but Shun grabbed his collar and pulled him back. "It's only the five minute bell telling everyone that they have five minutes until class starts, Dan," explained Shun. "And your class is right here, so you don't need to panic."

"Hehe…" mumbled Dan.

"Well, gotta get to English class now. See you at practice!" exclaimed Shun.

"Yeah, see you there!" Dan shouted back to Shun as he started to walk away.

"Speaking of practice," said Shun, suddenly stopping. "Coach said he'd remove you from the team if you continue to skip practices. So you better get your act together. Later."

Dan stood rooted on the spot. _Mr. Harben's going to remove me from the team? No! What would Mom and Dad say? And Runo…what would she say?_

"Dan, you've only got a couple of minutes until the bell rings!" exclaimed Drago.

"Huh? Oh yeah," replied Dan as he walked down the hallway until he found his classroom number. He double-checked again to see that he read the correct number, and entered the classroom just as the bell rang. "Whew, just in time."

"Take a seat, Mr. Kuso," ordered Ms. Clay.

"WHAT! I'M NOT LATE, AM I?" Dan shouted.

"No, you're not," said Ms. Clay, smiling. "But everyone else is already seated and ready. Please do the same."

Dan grinned and walked towards where Jake and Billy were sitting and sat down.

"Nice one, Dan the man," commented Jake, grinning.

"Try not to screw up anymore today," warned Billy. "Or else Coach Harben will-"

"Drop me out of the team, I know. Shun told me," said Dan as he reached into his backpack for his notebook as Ms. Clay began her lecture.

~Basketball Brawlers~

Throughout the whole day, Dan did his best not to piss off his teachers, and made sure he got to all of his classes on time. Even when 7th period rolled around, Dan was zooming past the math problems like there was no tomorrow. Perhaps that little afternoon with Mrs. Kerl assisting him with the problems helped a bit.

Finally, Dan heard that beautiful sound that brought music to his ears. BRIIIIIING!

"All right!" exclaimed Dan. "Time to head to the park to do some brawling!"

"But Dan!" exclaimed Runo, "what about-"

"Whatever you can tell me, I'll be at the park! Tell me there!" Dan shouted back as he ran out of the school and into the park.

"Ah, I miss this place…" said Dan.

"It's only been two days since you've been here, Dan," replied Drago, popping up on Dan's shoulder.

"I know…but still that's like 48 hours!" Dan exclaimed.

"You know, I think Runo was trying to tell you something about-"

"Yeah, I told her that I'd be at the park," interrupted Dan.

"But that's the problem!" exclaimed Drago. "How can she tell you when you're at the park, and when she has basketball practice? Somewhere YOU should be?"

"Basketball…OH CRAP!" exclaimed Dan as realization hit him. "NO, NO, NO, NOT AGAIN!"

"If you hurry, you may still be on time to practice, and your coach can't remove you from the team. So get going!" exclaimed Drago.

"Right!" shouted Dan as he ran back to the school. There were many events where Dan wished that time would go faster, such as when he was in school. But this was one of the times when Dan wished time would slow down.

**Please review!**


	8. Team Captain and Team Name

**Thank you for reviewing RunoandAkizafan, Star, Hawkgirl230, WriterHorse32, and Katzike123.**

**Reply to Star: Ren will show up soon, that's all I can tell you. I don't want to give everything away.**

When Runo walked inside the gym and towards her friends, Shun asked her, "Hey, where's Dan?"

But Runo merely shook her head and kept her eyes directed to the ground. Shun's eyes widened. _Damn it, Dan! Where the hell are you?_

"Okay, team!" exclaimed Coach Harben as he walked towards the group. "Let's take roll call. Shun."

"Here."

"Runo."

"Here."

"Alice."

"H-here."

"Billy."

"Huh, oh here."

"Joe."

"Present."

"Chan-Lee."

"Here."

"Fabia."

"Right here."

"Dan."

Silence.

"Dan?"

More silence.

"DAN!"

"HERE!"

"DAN?" The group turned around to find none other than Dan Kuso, running towards them in his P.E. clothes.

"What took you?" asked Shun.

"You don't wanna know," answered Dan as he gasped for breath.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, I don't," replied Shun. "Glad you could make it, pal." He and Dan fist punched.

Runo breathed a sigh of relief. _About time!_

"Well," started Coach Harben as he tucked his clipboard under his arm. "Now that we have the WHOLE team present, finally, we can now choose a team captain and a team name."

"I nominate Dan for team captain," said Runo immediately.

Coach Harben raised his eyebrows. _She's voting for the guy who missed the first two practices?_

"I second the nomination," said Shun raising his hand. The rest of the team nodded.

"Okay…I guess Dan's team captain…but why choose him?" asked Coach Harben.

"Because…if it weren't for him," started Joe.

"None of us would've joined the team," finished Shun with a smile.

Coach Harben blinked. _Well, if Dan's the one they want, Dan's the one they'll get. _"Okay, now for a team name."

"Well how should we decide on that?" asked Fabia.

"Well let's see, first name something you all have in common, or something all of you like to do."

Immediately, the whole team looked at one another and grinned, but it was Dan who answered, "Bakugan. We were called the Bakugan Battle Brawlers when we formed a team while we played Bakugan. We were the Brawlers before then, and that's not going to change. I say our team name should be The Basketball Brawlers."

Coach Harben smiled as he wrote the name down on the clipboard along with Dan's name, for he was the captain.

"Now that that's settled, let's do some laps. Everyone do a round of…oh let's make it 11 laps around the gym this time. Oh come on now," said Coach Harben as everyone groaned. "You can survive another lap. Everyone shall do 11 laps except for Dan."

"What?" asked Dan. "What am I going to do then?"

"Dan…you will be doing 15."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"YOU MISSED THE FIRST TWO PRACTICES, SO NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE UP FOR IT!"

"BUT THAT'S NOT FAIR! I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO SKIP PRACTICE! I WAS CATCHING UP ON MATH! I WAS DOING DETENTION!"

"YOU KNOW WHAT? FORGET I SAID 15! MAKE IT 20!"

"WHAT FOR?"

"FOR TALKING BACK TO YOUR COACH LIKE THAT! JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE THE TEAM CAPTAIN, DOESN'T MEAN I'M GOING TO GO EASY ON YOU!"

Dan opened his mouth to argue but Runo stepped in and clapped her hands over his mouth and whispered in his ear, "Idiot, quit yelling at him. Do you wanna make it 25?"

"Thank you, Runo," said Coach Harben as he turned to the rest of the team. "Well? What are you waiting for? Start running!"

**Please review! The first game will be coming soon! And I promise that when I write the first game, it will be longer than this. **


	9. Let the Games Begin

**Thank you, shadowwing1994, katzike123, DawnBerlitz on DA, RunoandAkizafan, JazzGirl123, Hawkgirl230, and Shar, for reviewing.**

**Sorry I wasn't able to update on the weekend, I had lots of homework to do. But it's just a couple of days late, hope you guys don't mind.**

_Monday, Noon… _

During lunch that day, Dan sat with his friends at their usual spot in the cafeteria. Everyone was either eating, talking, or, in Marucho's case, studying. Dan, however, was rubbing his legs which were still sore from his first practice last Friday.

"Hey, Dan, are you okay?" asked Fabia.

"Man, I can't believe it's been three days, yet my legs are STILL sore from Friday's practice!" exclaimed Dan. "How come I'm the only one who feels like this?"

"Well, Dan," started Alice. "All of us attended the first and second practices, so we're all used to it. Since this is your first sport, your body isn't used to it yet."

Shun smirked. "That's what you get for missing the first two practices."

Dan groaned but decided not to argue.

"Told you basketball practice wasn't all about just shooting the ball into the basket," said Runo.

"Whatever," Dan mumbled.

"Hey guys," greeted Joe as he walked towards the group hand in hand with Chan.

"What's up?" asked Billy.

"First basketball game," answered Chan as she and Joe sat down with the rest of the Brawlers.

"Already?" asked Marucho, looking up from his book.

"Wow, that's pretty quick. You guys only had practice for like three days," said Julie.

"Actually, it's more of a heads up than a warning," said Joe, as he ate his sandwich. "Chan and I were just talking to Coach Harben and he just wanted everyone to know that the first basketball game will be sometime next week."

"That good," replied Jake. "You guys will still have one week left to practice."

"Just wait," sighed Runo as she laid her head on the table. "The week will come and go before you know it. So did he tell you what team we'll be against?"

"Yeah," answered Chan. "But Coach didn't tell us much about them. All we know is that their team is called The Neathians. **(A/N: Sorry, I was too lazy to think up an original name, but I'll probably have to make up some in the future.) **They come from Greyard Academy."

"Well, even if we did know more about them," started Fabia. "We still need to do our best at every practice to make sure we win."

"Yeah, we have to win at least one out of four games," Chan added.

"What do you mean?" asked Dan.

"Okay, since you guys weren't on the team last year, I'll explain," said Joe. "These games are all a series of one big tournament. First, everyone starts off with four matches. If we can win one of those matches, we'll be able to play in the semifinals, and then finally in the championships. However, if we _aren't _able to win any of those four games, then we're out of the running."

"You mean we have to stop playing?" asked Dan.

"Sounds like it," answered Shun.

"WHAT!" exclaimed Dan.

"Dan, calm down," said Alice. "We haven't even started playing a single game yet."

"So anyways," continued Joe. "We'll just have to do our best."

"Yeah, as long as you try your hardest, you'll be fine," said Marucho.

"Good luck!" sing-songed Julie.

"Thanks, babe," said Billy as he hugged his girlfriend.

"Yeah, we'll need it," Joe muttered underneath his breath.

For the whole week, Dan tried his hardest not to have a reason to miss practice, and he was very successful. If it hadn't been for Marucho helping him with math problems, Dan would've probably missed more practices, resulting in his dropping out of the team.

During practice, after running some laps, they did drills such as shooting, dribbling, and passing. Joe, being on the team last year, was the best at shooting, but Chan-Lee was pretty good as well. Maybe Joe had taught her a thing or two over the summer. Shun and Fabia, being the fastest of the group, were the best at dribbling and when they played a practice game, they were the ones who did most of the stealing. Runo, being the aggressive one, was best at defense. And Billy was the best at passing and catching; his passes were almost always perfect and he never failed to catch a pass that was coming in his direction since he was very coordinated. Alice seemed to be afraid of the ball a bit, but she had great stamina. Shun never seemed to break a sweat, but neither did Alice during practice. Dan, however, was having a hard time keeping up with everyone, since he _still_ had to do more laps than everyone, (Coach Harben wasn't going to let him off that easily) and because of the fact that this was his first sport's practice _ever. _He had never been this tired in his whole life. But he still managed to hang in there.

On the following Monday, shortly before practice ended, Coach Harben called for a team discussion. "Okay, you guys, tomorrow is Tuesday, meaning that we're going to have our first game."

"Is it home or away?" asked Joe.

Dan looked at him in confusion.

Joe sighed and started again, "Are we going to have the game here in our gym or at another school?"

"We're going to hop on a bus and drive to Greyard Academy," explained Coach Harben as he consulted his clipboard. "You're gonna be able to get out of school a little earlier."

"How early?" asked Fabia.

"Eh, about thirty minutes earlier," answered Coach Harben.

"AWESOME, I GET TO MISS THIRTY MINUTES OF MATH!" Dan exclaimed. Shun and Runo shook their heads, Billy and Joe facepalmed, but Fabia, Alice, and Chan laughed.

"…okay…" said Coach Harben as he raised his eyebrows at Dan's response. "Anyways, there's going to be an announcement over the speaker to excuse everyone who's in basketball, so watch out for that. When they excuse you, put away your belongings in your locker, and change into your P.E. clothes. Then come out to the bus stop, understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Uhm…let's see…anything else…oh right, you'll get your jerseys when you meet me at the bus stop. So while we wait for our bus, I'll distribute those…bring a bottle of water with you, that's very important, and at least something to eat afterwards. You're gonna be hungry, I can guarantee that. Girls, bring something to put your hair up, long hair will either get in your face or slow you down."

"Are we going back to the school after the game?" asked Alice.

"Yes, the bus will take us right back to school, so you don't need to bring your backpacks and books," explained Coach Harben. "Hmm…I guess that's it then. Get a good sleep tonight and now let's do the team cheer."

Everyone put their hands in the middle. After Coach Harben counted, "1,2,3," everyone yelled, "BASKETBALL BRAWLERS!"

~Basketball Brawlers~

Dan was watching the clock intensely in his math classroom, watching it tick closer to 1:15, the time when he and the rest of the basketball team would be excused.

_5…_Dan counted…_4…3…2…1…_

And then when the clock read exactly 1:15, the loudspeaker turned on and the principle's voice rang through the whole school. "This is just a reminder to all of those in the basketball team to please now proceed to the bus stop. Good luck on your very first game!"

"Yeah, do your best!" exclaimed Julie as Dan and Runo packed up their belonging. After saying "thank you to Julie", the two walked towards their lockers and shoved their backpacks inside after taking out their water bottles and snacks.

Drago and Tigrerra popped up on Dan and Runo's shoulders.

"Are you gonna leave us in your lockers or taking us with you?" Drago asked.

"Take you with us, duh!" exclaimed Dan.

"How?" asked Tigrerra.

"Just stay put and relax on our shoulders," explained Runo. "I don't think Coach Harben will mind."

After walking to the P.E. locker rooms and changing into their P.E. clothes, Dan and Runo walked to the bus stop to find Shun, Alice, and Fabia with their bakugan talking to each other.

"Wow you guys change fast," said Dan.

"Is everyone else still changing?" asked Runo.

"I think they're finished; they're coming, look," replied Alice as she pointed behind Dan and Runo.

Dan and Runo turned to see Joe, Chan, and Billy walking towards them in their P.E. clothes with their bakugan perched on their shoulders.

Behind them was Coach Harben, carrying a clipboard and a couple of bags.

"Hey, everyone, ready for your first game?" he asked.

"Yes!" the whole team exclaimed.

"Right, first things first," said Coach Harben as he opened the first bag and taking out a handful of blue jerseys. "Go ahead and pick a jersey; don't worry, they're all clean. Remember, this will be your jersey for the rest of the season, so whatever you pick, you get stuck with. When you find a jersey you want, tell me the number so I can record it on my clipboard."

There were lots of hustling and bustling as everyone rummaged through the bag to pick out a jersey.

After everything was in order, everyone waited for the bus which was due in about five minutes.

"So, we're facing The Neathians, huh?" asked Billy.

"Yeah," answered Joe.

"We have no idea how good they are," added Alice.

"Or how bad they are," laughed Dan.

"Don't let down your guard, Dan," Shun advised. "That can sometimes lead to losing."

"C'mon, it's not all just about winning," said Chan.

"Yeah, we should at least try to have fun while we're at it," added Fabia.

"It won't be much fun if we lose," replied Runo.

"Bus is here!" exclaimed Coach Harben.

Everyone gathered their belongings and walked towards the yellow bus.

"Two people to a seat!" commanded Coach Harben as everyone walked inside.

Dan and Runo sat together, Joe and Billy decided to sit together, Chan and Fabia sat themselves down next to each other, and Shun and Alice, although they didn't plan to, sat down next to each other.

_Well this is awkward…_said Shun as he sat next to Alice.

_He's sitting right next to me! _Alice thought. _Oh, I hope this bus ride is short._

The ride to Greyard Academy took about 15 minutes. Everyone chatted with each other in the bus except for Shun and Alice who merely stayed quiet, not knowing what to say to each other.

When the bus pulled into the parking lot, to Alice's relief, everyone marched down the bus and walked towards the school gym. It was clear that school had just ended for them. Kids were at their lockers chatting to each other and grabbing their belongings. As the Brawlers walked through, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. This made Alice a little uncomfortable, making her tremble a little. She felt someone grab her hand and looked beside her to see Shun holding her hand, making her feel a little better.

When the team walked inside the gym, they saw kids wearing red jerseys shooting hoops on one side of the court. The bleachers started filling up as kids from the academy sat down to watch the game.

Coach Harben walked to the other side of the court which was empty and said, "Okay, here's our side of the court. Go ahead and just practice shooting hoops for a while. The game will start in about fifteen minutes." He opened up another bag and turned it upside down, spilling out a few basketballs.

Dan, Runo, and Billy immediately grabbed a ball and started shooting while Shun, Alice, and Fabia did some layups and Joe and Chan played a game of Keep-Away with each other, trying to steal the ball from each other.

When the buzzer sounded, Coach Harben called everyone into a group huddle. "Okay, so the first five people that are going to start off the game are Runo, Billy, Joe, Chan, and Shun. All right, good luck guys; don't push yourselves too hard. Just play like you've been playing during practice and you'll be fine."

"I'll do the tip-off," Joe volunteered as the five of them walked in the middle of the court.

"You mean where the referee throws the ball up and one person from each team tries to get it?" asked Dan.

"Yeah," answered Joe as everyone positioned themselves on the court.

The person doing the tip-off from the other team was a girl with jet-black hair that was tied in a ponytail. She glared at Joe while Joe merely blinked at her but didn't react much.

When referee threw the basketball up in the air, Joe and the girl jumped at the same time to reach it. Having lots of experience, and being a little taller than the girl, Joe managed to touch it first and passed it directly to Chan who immediately began dribbling to the other side of the court, signaling the start of the game.

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	10. The 1st Game

**Hey guys, sorry I wasn't able to update for a while. I've been sick and catching up on homework, but I found some time to update.**

**Thanks to DawnBerlitz, JazzGirl123, RunoandAkizafan, minihowk, shadowwing1994, katzike123, and Hawkgirl230 for reviewing.**

Although the Brawlers managed to get the basketball at the very start of the game, it was quickly stolen by the Neathians.

The girl who did the tip-off got super angry that she didn't manage to grab the ball first and wanted revenge. Unfortunately, she got it and quickly stole the ball from Chan-Lee and passed it to a boy on her team.

The boy dribbled the basketball all the way to the end of the court and made a layup, earning the Neathians two points.

Joe face palmed. The game hadn't even lasted for one minute yet the Neathians had already scored.

"Oh man," said Dan from the bench. "This isn't looking good."

"But it's just the start of the game," replied Fabia. "Who knows? Maybe we'll be able to score lots of points later."

Alice nodded her head in agreement.

Shun was now holding the ball and standing on the other side of the court. He passed it to Runo who immediately dribbled towards their court but was stopped by another girl.

Runo and the girl glared at each other for a moment. Out of the corner of her eye, Runo saw Billy waving his hands like crazy, doing jumping-jacks on the court in order to get her attention.

Runo ran to the left and the girl followed. But then Runo quickly switched directions and ran to the right, confusing the girl. The moment the girl hesitated, Runo passed the basketball to Billy who threw the ball towards the hoop. But it merely bounced off the rim.

A boy from the Neathians quickly got the rebound and started dribbling towards his court.

"Don't feel bad, man," said Joe gently as he and the rest of the team chased after the boy. "Everyone misses."

Billy shrugged and continued to chase after the boy.

The Brawlers were too busy trying to prevent the Neathians from scoring that they didn't even bother to look at the scoreboard.

When the 1st quarter ended, Coach Harben called everyone over. "Okay you guys, I know you're trying, but they are pounding us out there. It's like we're the bugs and their feet are just squishing us. Almost every three minutes, they make a shot. We have to work on our defense. All right, who wants out?"

Runo, Chan, and Billy raised their hands.

"Okay then, Dan, Fabia, and Alice will take your places. Let's go!"

The 2nd quarter was no better than the first. Sure with the help of Fabia's and Shun's speed, the team was able to steal a few balls, but the Neathians would always steal them back.

By the time the 4th quarter rolled around, everyone was tired, including Shun and Alice.

"Whoa, Shun, you're tired?" asked Dan, surprised.

"Shut up," muttered Shun.

"Look," started Coach Harben as everyone started drinking from their water bottles. "I know all of you are tired, but we have to finish this game. Who wants in?"

Shun and Alice, having the most stamina of the group, raised their hands. Joe, being an experienced player, raised his as well. Chan, wanting to be with Joe, put her hand up in the air.

"That's four people," said Coach Harben. "We need one more."

"I'll do it," replied Dan, sticking his arm up in the air.

Runo smiled. Typical Dan, always wanting to be in the action.

"Okay, this is the last quarter. Do your best," said Coach Harben.

Shun, Alice, Joe, Chan, and Dan nodded as they walked towards the court.

When the referee blew his whistle, he handed the ball to Joe who passed it to Dan. Dan ran towards the basket, attempting to make a layup, but was blocked by a boy. Thinking quickly, he passed the ball to Shun, who passed it to Alice, who missed the pass.

"ALICE, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" Dan shouted in her face as a Neathian grabbed the ball Alice missed and scored.

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Alice. "Everything was happening too fast! I didn't…I couldn't…"

"THANKS TO YOU, THEY SCORED AN EASY POINT!" Dan continued to yell.

"Dan, stop it!" Shun exclaimed angrily, stepping in front of Alice. "It was an accident!"

"Yeah, well that accident caused us to-"

"GUYS, QUIT FIGHTING AND HELP US OUT HERE!" shouted Joe. Shun, Alice, and Dan looked towards Joe's directions and saw that only Joe and Chan were doing their best to prevent the Neathians from shooting, even though they were outnumbered.

"HELP THEM OUT!" Runo exclaimed from the bench, waving her hands wildly in the air, pointing to Joe and Chan.

Too late. The buzzer had sounded, signaling the end of the game. Well it didn't take a detective to figure out that the Neathians had won. People sitting on the bench were screaming, "Nea-thi-ans! Nea-thi-ans!"

Meanwhile, the Brawlers merely treaded out of the gym.

Dan caught up with Runo and asked her, "Hey, what was the final score?"

Runo glared at him. She was still angry about him yelling at her best friend. "You really wanna know?"

"Yeah…" mumbled Dan.

"Home was 62 points, that was the Neathians," explained Runo.

"And for us?" asked Dan, afraid of the answer.

"Visitors, that's us, the Brawlers," replied Runo. "We scored 8 points."

**Again, sorry for the late update, but please review!**


	11. Lecture

**Thank you, JazzGirl123, Hawkgirl230, RunoandAkizafan, DawnBerlitz on DA, katzike123, AlicexShunNotFabia, and shadowwing1994 for reviewing.**

**Sorry about the grammatical mistakes. I didn't have time to look this over and just posted it.**

"Oh…well…at least we scored some points…that's better than nothing," said Dan, trying to be optimistic.

"Oh shut up, Dan," growled Runo.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help…"

"We'll you're doing a pretty good job at making things worse!" Runo exclaimed. "I mean, yelling at Alice? WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!"

"HEY! SHE'S THE REASON WE LOST A POINT!"

"WELL IT WOULDN'T HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE ANYWAY, THEY SCORED FREAKIN 62 POINTS!"

"HEY!" Runo and Dan turned to see Coach Harben glaring at them. They'd never seen him so angry before.

"You two. Here. Now," ordered Coach Harben. The rest of the brawlers were behind him.

Runo and Dan obeyed and walked towards their coach.

"Now that I have the whole team here…let's talk. Shall we?" asked Coach Harben as the team gathered around, nervously.

"Look, I am not mad we lost. Not one bit," said Coach Harben gently.

The team had looks of reliefs on their faces, but they were quickly wiped off when Coach Harben continued, "But I AM angry at how poorly this team is functioning…well…AS A TEAM!"

"YOU!" exclaimed Coach Harben, pointing to Dan. "Out of all people, the TEAM CAPTAIN, is lacking the ability to work with the team."

Dan hung his head. Coach Harben sighed. "Dan, I know how badly you wanted to win. But everyone makes mistakes. Alice, good try, but you need to be ready next time."

"Yes, Coach," replied Alice, looking down.

"All right," said Coach Harben, looking at every single one. "There's a lot of things I can teach you to improve your game. But there is no way you can win a game if there is no teamwork here. You have to communicate with each other. You have to work together. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. Coach Harben smiled and put his hand in the center of the group. "Basketball Brawlers on three. Who would like to do the honors?"

"Me," replied Joe, sticking his hand in the center.

When's everyone's hands were in the middle of the circle, Joe started counting, "One…two…three!"

"BASKETBALL BRAWLERS!" everyone yelled.

"Okay, everyone, let's get to our bus!" exclaimed Coach Harben.

_Oh, no…_thought Alice. _Not another ride with Shun!_

**I know this is short. But I'm trying to update at least once a week, and I only have so much time on my hands. Don't forget to review!**


	12. Alice's Decision

**Thanks to katzike123, DawnBerlitz, JazzGirl123, RunoandAkizafan, Hawkgirl230, and Star.**

**Again to JazzGirl123: I honestly have no idea how those numbers got there, but I got rid of them.**

**Star: Yeah, I looked it up online and it looks pretty cool! Thanks for telling me.**

"Hey, Dan," said Dan's mother as Dan opened the front door. "How was the game?"

"Fine," Dan muttered, climbing the stairs to his room without even glancing at his mother.

One inside, Dan plopped on the bed and Drago popped up beside him. "Dan, take it easy, it was just the first game."

"But I wanted to win so badly…" replied Dan.

"Well…you still shouldn't have yelled at Alice," said Drago. "You should apologize to her during practice tomorrow."

"Yeah," agreed Dan, immediately feeling guilty.

"And one more thing…" started Drago.

"What?" asked Dan, a little pissed. "Going to tell me off for not being able to work with my team? Tell me I'm a bad team captain?"

"No," replied Drago, smirking. "But you should take a shower."

_Wednesday, before school…_

"Alice…HEY ALICE!"

Alice who had been walking on her way to school turned around to see Shun running towards her. In about a second, he caught up with her and smiled. "Hey."

"Hi," replied Alice, looking a little sad.

"Still thinking about yesterday?" asked Shun.

"I…I don't really wanna talk about it," replied Alice, turning and continued to walk.

But Shun grabbed her hand and spun her around. "Look, it wasn't your fault we lost, ok? Dan was…being a jerk. He lost his temper; he's famous for that."

Alice smiled a sad smile. "Thanks, Shun. I know you're trying to make me feel better, and I really do appreciate it…but I don't think I'm a worthy player for the team. Everyone has their own special talent like Fabia can steal and Joe and shoot…but me? I just duck whenever the ball comes my way."

"Alice-"

"School's about to start," interrupted Alice, pulling her hand out of Shun's grasp. "See you later."

Shun stood rooted to the spot, his anger building up inside of him. He was going to have a talk with Dan _very _soon.

~Basketball Brawlers~

As Dan walked down the hallway, he heard someone call his name. Well…not exactly his _name _but he knew whoever was speaking was talking to him.

"Well, well, if it isn't the team captain."

Dan looked to the left to see Shun casually leaning against the wall. Dan grinned. "Hey buddy-"

"Save it," Shun growled.

"Whoa, man," said Dan, a little scared. "What your problem?"

"My problem?" asked Shun. "Alice, that's what."

"What, did you ask her out and she rejected you or something?" asked Dan.

"No, it's not like that!" Shun exclaimed, his cheeks turning slightly red. "She's depressed! She's angry at herself; she's beating herself up!"

"Why?" asked Dan.

"Why?" repeated Shun. "Because a certain SOMEONE starting yelling at her in the middle of the game for a small mistake! I mean it's not like YOU didn't make a mistake at all. Wanna know how many times you've tried shooting and missed?"

"How many?" asked Dan.

"23," answered Shun.

Dan sweat dropped. Shun actually counted that?

"But that's not the point," replied Shun. "We didn't yell at you when you missed. So there's no need to yell at another person's mistakes, especially when you've made a ton more than they have. So if I were you, I'd apologize to Alice."

"I know," said Dan. "I'll do it either at lunch or during practice, okay? Now quit giving me lectures! I got it, okay? Coach Harben yelled at me, Drago lectured me, and I don't need anything from you!"

"What was that?" asked Shun, glaring at Dan.

"You heard me," snapped Dan, shoving Shun aside and walking towards his class.

_Lunch…_

"Anyone seen Alice?" asked Runo as she sat down. "I didn't see her today."

"She's at school," replied Shun.

"How do you know?" asked Runo.

"I saw her in the morning," answered Shun, glaring at Dan.

"I guess…I'll apologize during practice," said Dan under Shun's glare.

But Alice was absent during practice as well. _Where is she? _Dan thought.

The next day, the group didn't see any sign of Alice at all.

"What did you do?" snarled Shun at Dan.

"I didn't do anything!" Dan protested. "I swear!"

Shun's face softened. Dan was his best friend. He may be a jerk at times, but he was also loyal and trustworthy.

That night, Shun asked his grandfather if he could visit a friend for a few minutes. After getting permission, Shun sprinted to Alice's house and got there in no time. He knocked on the door a few times before Alice's grandfather opened it.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Is Alice there?" asked Shun.

"Alice?" repeated Alice's grandfather. "She's in her room."

"May I come in?" Shun asked politely. "I need to talk to her."

"She's sick."

"What! How?"

"She came down with a cold yesterday and I had to pick her up in the morning. Then today, she stayed home. She's been really depressed, did something happen during school?"

"Er…" started Shun, wondering if he should tell the old man the truth or not. "Basketball practice must have worn her out or something."

Alice's grandfather sighed. "All right, you may come in. But only for a few minutes."

"Thank you, sir," said Shun as he entered the house.

"Alice's room is upstairs to the left," said Alice's grandfather pointing to the stairs.

Shun nodded and silently ran upstairs and towards Alice's room. He knocked twice on the door before Alice opened it, looking very sick indeed.

Her face was pale and her eyes were tired. In one of her hands, she held a tissue. "Shun?" she asked, her voice raspy. "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you're okay," replied Shun.

"Well…as you can see I am sick…"

"I know…But I also know that…Dan didn't mean what he said at the basketball game. He didn't, he feels guilty and wants to apologize."

"Is that so?" asked Alice. "Well tell him I said "thank you" but I don't think I'm going to see you guys after school anymore."

"Why not?" asked Shun.

"Well…I decided…I'm going to quit basketball."

**Thanks for bearing with me on that short chapter last week. I made a longer one to make up for it. Please review!**


	13. Dan's Apology

**Hey, guys, sorry for not updating for two weeks. I had a little bit of writer's block for this chapter and then when I finally had some ideas and started typing them down. The worst happened: My computer went haywire and I lost all of my fanfic stories…well that was a great loss. But at least I've got them published, so it wasn't that bad…but it kind of delayed this update. So sorry again, and hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Of course, thank you, my reviewers: JazzGirl123, RunoandAkizafan, Star, DawnBerlitz, WriterHorse32, katzike123, Hawkgirl230, shadowwing1994, and Runotigrera98.**

**Many people have been asking me about Ren and I don't blame you guys. It's already been twelve chapters, yet he still hasn't shown up. The only thing I can tell you, is that he WILL show up…eventually. He will, I promise. **

**Note: This chapter contains a little bit of DanxAlice, as some people my view it. But I view it as just friendship. **

**Enjoy!**

_Thursday, during lunch…_

"Quit? QUIT! SHE'S GONNA QUIT BASKETBALL!" Runo shouted so loud, the whole cafeteria got quiet and people stared.

Fabia sighed. Alice was right. Runo did have a talent of attracting attention.

Shun shrugged. "That's what she said. Anyways, she's not gonna be at school today. She has a cold and her grandfather told me she's been really depressed."

"What about tomorrow?" asked Joe.

"I don't know. Hopefully she gets better by then," replied Shun.

"This is all your fault," Runo hissed, pointing her finger at Dan. "If you hadn't yelled at her during the game she wouldn't have been feeling so down!"

"Hey, I was going to apologize!" exclaimed Dan, defending himself. "But she's not here, how am I supposed to apologize then, huh?"

"Oh, by the way, I told her you said you were sorry," Shun interrupted.

"Really?" asked Dan, surprised. "What did she say?"

"She said "thank you" and then she moved on saying she was going to quit basketball," replied Shun.

Dan groaned, got up from the table, and walked away.

"Hey, Dan the man, where are you going?" asked Jake.

Runo sighed. "I'll go after him." She got up from the table and ran after Dan.

Dan walked down the hallway but stopped when he recognized the bulletin board on the wall where he had signed up for basketball. Dan frowned, thinking that this whole mess wouldn't have happened if he hadn't signed up and convinced everyone else to join him.

Suddenly he heard footsteps and turned to see Runo running towards him.

"What, come to yell at me some more?" asked Dan as she stopped in front of him.

"Well, actually…" Runo started, but then she closed her mouth. Yelling _had _been her intention, but she knew it wasn't going to help.

"Yeah…uhm…sorry…" said Runo, looking down. "It's just…I wish Alice would just cheer up. I mean I don't want her to leave the team. We're all in this together."

"I'm sorry too," said Dan.

"For what?"

"For yelling at your best friend. It's my fault, she's been unhappy and it's up to me to fix it."

"Dan-"

"I have to convince her to get back on the team."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I…have no idea…"

Runo facepalmed.

"But I'll think of something."

Runo sighed. "Well, whatever your idea is. I hope it works." Runo turned her back on Dan and started walking back to the cafeteria.

"Me too," said Dan quietly to himself as he watched Runo disappear.

~Basketball Brawlers~

_Ding-dong!_

"Who's there?" asked Alice's grandfather as he opened the door to reveal Dan.

"Oy, not another one," Alice's grandfather grumbled. "First that ninja boy, and now you. I'm sure your friend who visited yesterday told you Alice has a cold. Now please leave her in peace and let her rest."

"But…but I need to talk to her!" Dan protested.

"That's exactly what the boy last night requested. Alice doesn't need to talk, she just needs to rest."

"This is very important!" exclaimed Dan. "And if she doesn't want to talk, she can just listen."

Alice's grandfather paused, thinking it over. "You have five minutes."

"Thank you," said Dan as he entered the house.

"Where is-"

"Her room is upstairs to the left," said Alice's grandfather, before Dan could even ask.

"Thanks," said Dan as he followed the instructions and found Alice's room.

Dan knocked twice and heard Alice ask from inside the room, "Who is it?"

"Dan."

The door opened to reveal Alice, not as sick as yesterday. Some color had returned to her face but she still looked very tired.

"Look, I know Shun already told you this, but I am so sorry I yelled at you during that last game. It was wrong of me to do so."

Alice smiled. "Thanks, Dan, and if Shun told you about your apology, did he also tell you I was dropping out of the team?"

"Yes, but please don't. We're all in this together, Alice, you can't just quit now."

"But I'm so useless. Every time the ball comes towards me I try to dodge it. What use am I to the team?"

"You may not be the best shooter, nor the fastest runner, but Alice you have great stamina. You can survive through all four quarters; none of us can do that. Well, except maybe Shun, but what do you expect? He's a ninja."

"Well, I'll…I'll think about it," said Alice.

"Your five minutes are over!" exclaimed a voice from downstairs.

"Is that my grandfather?" asked Alice.

"Yeah, took me awhile to convince him to let me talk to you. I gotta go before he gets even angrier at me."

"Bye," said Alice as she watched Dan descend downstairs.

Alice closed the door and lay back down on her bed. Two of her friends had taken the time to visit her and to ask her to come back. She really did wish to come back, but she was afraid of letting the team down. Sure, what Dan had said was true. Alice did have a lot of stamina but what use would it be if all she did was stand there and dodge the ball? Alice groaned and turned off the lights. She would think about it tomorrow.

**Again, sorry for any errors. I don't know why, but I always seem to miss a few errors even when I try to proofread it.**

**Please review!**


	14. The Final Choice

**ANOTHER apology for not updating in two weeks! And this is just a heads up for my other updates: I may not be updating much as of now because I'm working on another story (not a fanfiction) that's going to be due in about a month and I'll need most of my time to work on that. So most of my spare time will be devoted to that story, but I'll also try to get this one updated as well. Thanks for waiting! **

**Thank you, RunoandAkizafan, katzike123, Star, DawnBerlitz, JazzGirl123, shadowwing1994, pokemonlover417, mini99, krisan, and cocoacharm15, for reviewing.**

**Again, sorry for any grammatical mistakes.**

_Monday, during practice…_

"Dan?" asked Coach Harben.

"Here."

"Runo?"

"Here."

"Fabia?"

"Here."

"Billy?"

"Yo."

"Chan-Lee."

"Here."

"Joe."

"Here."

"Shun."

"Hn."

"Alice?"

"Not here," everyone said at the same time.

"That's strange," said Fabia. "I talked to her over the weekend. She said she recovered from her cold."

"Yeah, I saw her during school," added Joe.

"Then why wasn't she with us during lunch?" asked Billy.

"She said she had some work to catch up with," replied Chan. "I know because we're both in the same class before lunch and as we were walking outside she told me she needed to stay behind in the classroom to work."

"But if she didn't come to practice…" started Dan.

"Then maybe…she _did _quit basketball after all," whispered Runo, afraid of what she had just said.

"NO!" Shun shouted suddenly. "She didn't quit! She…she can't quit…"

"Shun…" said Dan.

"I don't know, Shun," said Coach Harben. "She hasn't been coming to practices lately…"

"But that's because she was sick!" protested Shun.

"She's not today," remarked Coach Harben. "You heard Fabia and Chan-Lee. She's whole and healthy."

"Yeah, I heard Chan, isn't she the one who said that Alice needed to catch up on school work?" asked Shun.

Coach Harben frowned. "Our next game is this Thursday. If she doesn't show up, then she's off the team. I trust that you will tell her about this?"

The brawlers nodded.

"Good," said Coach Harben. "Now go-"

But before he could even finish his order, the Brawlers already started running around the court after being so used to their coach's commands.

Monday passed quickly…so did Tuesday and Wednesday. Although Alice showed up for school, she was never there during lunch nor practice.

When Thursday came, the usual energy of the Brawlers was now low. Instead of chatting excitedly about the game, or in Dan's case, bragging about how they were going to cream the other team, the whole table was quiet.

"Well…this is awkward," said Julie.

"Is Alice still catching up on work?" asked Runo.

"No," answered Chan. "She said she wanted to eat alone to allow her to think."

"Think? About what?" asked Jake.

Chan shrugged. "Beats me."

Dan sighed and looked towards Shun who was merely staring at his tray. "Are you gonna eat that?"

"Take it," replied Shun, pushing his tray towards Dan.

"Dude, you're not gonna eat? Don't you need food for today's game?" asked Dan, pushing the tray back to his best friend.

"What's the point?" asked Shun. "I may not even be at the game."

"WHAT!" exclaimed all the Brawlers.

"But…but why not?" asked Joe.

"If Alice isn't playing, then I'm not," replied Shun. "I mean, she was the only reason I signed up in the first place."

The table grew silent again, until Dan let out an angry yell, took and apple from his tray, and chucked it towards Shun, who, of course, managed to catch it, but still got angry at his best friend's actions and stood up from the table. "What the hell was that for?"

"For your attitude!" exclaimed Dan, standing up as well. "And I thought I had a pretty bad attitude, but man, yours is even worse!"

"Say what!"

"Look Shun, you may have signed up only because Alice did, but you made a commitment to _stay _on the team. You back out now…well, I'll tell you one thing: Alice is not going to like it. Plus, she's gonna feel even guiltier because she'll think that SHE was the one who made you quit. You wanna put her under more stress, Shun?"

Shun made a "humph" as the bell rang and began packing up quickly without a word. In a second, he had thrown away his tray, uneaten, gathered all of his books and papers, and disappeared from the table.

"Way to go, Dan," said Runo, sarcastically.

"But it's true…" replied Dan. "C'mon let's get to class."

~Basketball Brawlers~

_To those in basketball, you are excused to go to the bus stop for your game. Good luck!_

Dan sighed as the principal finished her announcement over the loudspeaker and slowly gathered up his things.

"Are you okay, Dan?" asked Drago.

"Why are you asking?"

"Usually you're excited when you get to leave class early."

Dan shrugged and looked over towards Runo who nodded, indicating that she was ready to go. The two waved good-bye to Julie and set off towards the locker rooms to change.

When they both walked towards the bus stop together, they were surprised to see only Fabia.

"Whoa, where's Shun and Alice?" asked Runo.

"They're usually the first people to get ready, besides you," added Dan.

Fabia shrugged. "Well, concerning Alice…what if…I mean…I wish she didn't but…"

"Don't tell me…" said Runo.

"She's not gonna…" said Dan.

Fabia sighed. "As much as we hate it, it was her choice to leave the team and as her friends we should respect her choice."

Runo and Dan glanced at each other and shrugged.

"And about Shun," started Fabia, "He's…HERE!"

"Eh?" asked Dan and Runo as they turned around to find the stoic boy walking coolly towards them.

"Dude!" exclaimed Dan. "You made it-"

"I'm not doing this for you," interrupted Shun, expressionlessly, "or even the team. I'm doing for Alice; I don't want her to have any more troubles."

"Calm down, Dan," warned Drago as Dan growled at his best friend. But just then, the rest of the brawlers and Coach Harben walked towards them.

"Everyone here?" asked Coach Harben.

"Except for Alice," said Fabia, sadly.

Shun sighed and closed his eyes, waiting for his coach's response.

"Well then…" started Coach Harben. "Like I said before, if she wouldn't show up for today's game, then she is off the team. All right, I'm gonna need to cross out her name from this list-oh wait, the bus is here. Let's board and then we can discuss this later."

Shun was the last to get on the bus. Everyone had chosen their same partners to sit with them from the last game, but this time, Shun sat alone since Alice didn't wasn't there.

He watched with horror as Coach Harben rummaged through his bag for a pen while clutching his clipboard with the Brawlers' names on them. _Well…this is it then, _thought Shun as Coach Harben found a pen and raised it towards the clipboard, directly in front of Alice's name. _He's crossing out her name…she really is dropping out of the team…_

As the bus started to move, Shun tore his eyes away from Coach Harben and looked out of the window at the school. Suddenly, something caught his eye and he immediately yelled to the driver, "STOP!"

The driver slammed the brakes and Coach Harben was thrown forward, losing his grip on the pen and making it fly away to who-knows-where. He angrily glared at Shun and was about to yell at him for causing the driver trouble, but Shun merely pointed outside the window and said, "It's Alice."

The Brawlers crowded over the windows to see Alice running quickly towards the bus. Coach Harben signaled the driver to open the doors and Alice dashed inside, sweating and panting like crazy.

The whole bus exploded with cheers and laughter and sayings of "Alice, welcome back!"

Only when the driver got pissed and shouted at everyone to shut up did the Brawlers calmed down.

"Now that you're quiet," started Coach Harben. "Has anyone seen my pen?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Well…I don't think it matters anyway," said Coach Harben, smiling. "I won't need to cross out Alice's name anymore. Are you up for today's game, Alice?"

"Yes!" Alice exclaimed.

"Good," replied Coach Harben, sitting back down on his chair as Alice sat down next to Shun.

"So…uh…what took you?" asked Shun.

"Uhm…" started Alice, "Well you see…I wasn't sure if I wanted to come…but Hydranoid made me realize that..."

"That the whole team needs you?" asked Skyress, popping up on Shun's shoulder.

"You could say that," said Hydranoid, appearing on Alice's shoulder as well.

Shun smiled. "I'm glad you came back."

**Please review!**


	15. In Loving Memory

**Hey, guys what's up? Sorry for not updating for another two weeks (I think this is the third time in a row) but now that it is winter break, I have some spare time to update. **

**Ok, first of all, thank you to my reviewers: JazzGirl123, Pokemonlover417, ilovecartoonslol, mini99, katzike123, RunoandAkizafan, Star, AlicexShunNotFabia, sakurayamato1, and shadowwing1994.**

**Second, I would like to dedicate this chapter to someone very special, Douglas Uselton. He and his father were hit by a drunk driver just yesterday morning and died in the crash. Doug was a senior at my school who played baseball and basketball, and he's been at my school since 8th grade. He would've graduated this year, would've gone to college. But he can't anymore. We'll all miss him. Please, guys, don't drink and drive.**

**Rest in peace and may God bless your soul, Doug.**

"Ughhh," groaned Dan as he plopped on bed.

"Well, it could've been worse," said Drago. "I mean you scored a few more points this time than in the last game. And look, Alice came back to the team."

"But I can't stand losing!" exclaimed Dan, punching his pillow. "20 to 30, man I hate that team! Freaking _Thunderbirds…"_

Drago sighed. "Well, at least you still have two more games before the semi-finals. You could still qualify."

"I guess…" mumbled Dan, walking into the bathroom and turning on the hot water for a shower.

_Friday, before school…_

"Hey, Runo," said Dan as he walked down the hallway to meet his girlfriend.

"Hey, Dan. What a game huh?" asked Runo.

"We lost…again…"

"But we improved," said Runo. "Isn't that what Coach Harben said? So maybe we'll win the next one!"

"Maybe…when is the next game anyway?" asked Dan.

"Next Tuesday," answered Joe, walking towards Dan and Runo, holding hands with Chan-Lee.

"WHAT?" exclaimed Dan. "That's just four days away! We'll only have today and Monday to practice!"

"Cool it, Dan," said Chan. "Maybe we can get together and practice on the weekend."

"Sounds good," said Joe. "My house? We have a basketball hoop and two basketballs."

"Great," replied Dan. "We'll tell the others about it during lunch."

_During lunch…_

"Sup, people," said Dan as he sat down at the table. "Uh…why so gloomy?"

"Fabia's not here today," replied Alice, sadly. "I wonder if she caught my cold?"

"I doubt it," Shun assured her. "When you were sick you stayed home and you weren't around Fabia."

"So if she's not sick, then what happened to her?" asked Billy.

"I don't know…but I hope she's ok…" said Julie.

"GUYS! HEY, GUYS!"

The Brawlers turned to see Marucho running towards them at top speed, holding a newspaper in his hand.

"What's wrong, Marucho?" asked Jake.

"It's terrible!" cried Marucho, handing Dan the newspaper. "When I noticed Fabia didn't show up to English class or History class, I asked my teachers what could have happened to her. I mean Fabia's never sick, Neathians don't get diseases down here on Earth. Ms. Mari gave me her morning newspaper and…and…"

Dan quickly looked at the front page of the paper and started to read aloud:

_Yesterday, at 8:00 P.M., a teenager, age 18, was hit by a drunk driver. Jin Sheen was immediately killed in the crash. He was on his way to his best friend, Jimmy Gareol's, funeral when the incident occurred. The parents of Jimmy got worried when he didn't arrive._

"_It's really sad," said Dawn Gareol, Jimmy's mother. "He was driving to his friend's funeral, not knowing that he would soon be going to his own."_

_The driver, Justin Daroh, suffered minor injuries and was taken to the Bayville hospital._

Dan stopped reading and put down the paper. "Look, Marucho, I know this is sad and everything, but what does this have to do with Fabia?"

Marucho sighed. "Look at Jin's last name."

The Brawlers crowded over the paper to read the name again: Jin _Sheen._

Alice gasped. "He's…Fabia's brother…"

"Oh my god…" said Chan.

"Dude…that's like…the saddest story ever," said Jake.

Silence fell among the Brawlers for a while, until Dan said, "Well…you know who we're paying a visit to after school today."

"What about practice?" asked Joe.

"Fabia is way more important than basketball," said Julie. "Right now, she needs our help. I'll skip cheerleading too."

"Me too," said Jake. "I'm gonna skip football today."

_After school…_

Dan knocked on the door three times. "Fabia? I know you're in there! Open up!"

"We just want to talk to you!" added Runo.

The door opened to reveal Fabia's mother, Serena. "Hello…are you Fabia's friends?"

Dan nodded. "We…we heard about…"

"About Jin?" Serena sighed. "Yes…it was unfortunate to lose him like that…Fabia is in her room right now. She hasn't come out ever since she heard the news."

"Well we need to talk to her," Dan pleaded. "Please."

Serena sighed and stepped aside to let the Brawlers in the house. "Just go all the way down the hall until you see a sign saying, "Fabia's Room."

Dan quickly found Fabia's bedroom door and knocked a few times. "Fabia?"

"Who is it?" asked Fabia's voice from inside her room.

"It's Dan…and Shun, and Runo, and Alice, and-"

"Go away."

Dan stood rooted to the spot, shocked. "Fabia we just want to talk to you!"

"I don't want to talk."

"Open up this door right now, or I'll break it down!"

"Dan!" exclaimed Julie.

"What?" asked Dan, shrugging.

"C'mon, Fabia, please!" exclaimed Alice.

"No way."

"Fine," said Dan. "You leave me with no choice. I'm counting to three."

"One."

"Dan…" warned Shun.

"Two."

"You wouldn't…" said Chan.

"Three, stand back-"

But at that moment, the door swung open to reveal an angry Fabia. "What part of "go away" do you not understand!"

"Fabia, we know you're upset, but that's why we came!" said Dan. "We just want to help you!"

"You can start by leaving!" she screamed.

Dan walked forward and leaned his face close to hers so that their noses were touching. "Stop it Fabia. We're here to help and we're not leaving."

Angered, Fabia swung her fist at Dan. The Brawlers gasped but Dan blocked the punch by grabbing her wrist. Fabia and Dan had a little staring contest until Fabia's eyes softened and tears starting leaking out.

Dan let go of her wrist and Fabia walked towards her bed and plopped herself on it. The rest of the Brawlers followed and surrounded her bed.

"You remind me of him, Dan," said Fabia, through sniffles. "He always had that face of determination, never willing to give up."

"We're so sorry, Fabia," said Alice, giving Fabia a hug.

Fabia responded by crying her heart out on Alice's shoulder as the rest of the Brawlers either put their hands on Fabia's shoulders, cried with her, or said that everything was going to be ok and that her friends would always be there for her.

Serena watched from the doorway, with a tears sliding down from her eyes. "Brawlers…please take care of her."

**This was one of the saddest chapters I've ever written. Please review. It will mean a lot to me. Thank you.**

**In loving memory of ****Douglas Uselton.**


	16. Fabia's Sorrow

**Hey, guys, hope you had a nice New Years, winter break, and I hope Santa gave you guys what you wanted. **

**Huh, I thought I uploaded this a while ago...guess I didn't...but oh well, here's the next chapter.  
**

**Omg, over 100 reviews? That's AWESOME! I never thought I would get that many, and it's all thanks to you guys.**

**Thanks to my reviewers who reviewed the last chapter: JazzGirl123, RunoandAkizafan, AliceXShunNotFabia, arisu-bakugan, Star, ilovecartoonslol, shadowwing1994, katzike123, sakurayamato1, lilpiggy169, and SoulWolf4ever.**

**Star: Well, I never really thought of that, but I might include it. **

**I went to Doug's memorial last week, so I thought it'd be proper for Jin to have one too. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten the main idea of this story, which is basketball, of course, but this is just a little…uhm…small section added.**

**And again I shall answer the most frequently asked question that I receive: When is Ren coming?**

**Answer: SOON! I'm sorry, but that's all I can really tell you. I'd tell you more but then I'd be spoiling the story and we all love surprises and cliff hangers, don't we? xD**

"Please, Fabia? You've been in bed all day!" exclaimed Alice.

"Technically, she's been in bed for the whole weekend," corrected Dan. Runo jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow.

"Fabia, we know it's difficult for you to handle, but you need to stop staying inside the house all the time and have some fun," said Julie.

"Fun?" asked Fabia with her pillow covering her head. "Someone else other than me deserves to have fun…_He_ should be having fun right now…but he'll never have fun again…If I'm having fun then he should too! I'm not doing anything he can't!" Tears sprang from her eyes as she continued to talk, "Right now, his eyes are closed. So mine should be too!"

Shun sighed. "Fabia, I understand how you feel, but-"

"NO! You don't understand anything!" Fabia snapped.

Shun raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure about that? Because I was pretty upset when _I_ lost my mother."

Fabia's face softened. She paused for a while, and then said, "I'm sorry…I didn't…I didn't know…"

"Don't worry about it," interrupted Shun. "But here's the thing. When she died, I stopped doing everything I thought was fun, including Bakugan. I used to chat all the time with Dan and the others online, but I just stopped logging in. But then Runo and Marucho asked me for help to defeat Masquerade and I told them if they beat me in a brawl I would. So, we played a game and then I remembered how fun it was to play Bakugan. I know exactly what you're going through, but I also know how to help. And right now, you need to get out of bed and change so we can all go to Joe's house for some basketball practice."

Fabia hesitated, thinking it over.

"C'mon, Fabia, Jin wouldn't want you to act like this, would he? Wouldn't he have wanted you to have some fun?" asked Marucho.

"I suppose…" replied Fabia.

"Great!" exclaimed Dan, "We'll wait for you outside. Better hurry up and change so we can go play some B-ball!"

Dan and the others rushed outside, leaving Fabia alone in her room with her thoughts.

"Well…they did take the time to come over…I just wished I had known about Shun's mother…I was so mean to him…"

Fabia sighed, got up, and walked towards her closet to pick out her clothes for the day.

~Basketball Brawlers~

"I'm open, I'm open!" Joe shouted as Runo dribbled down the court. She passed it to Joe who did a layup, earning his team two points. Joe, Runo, Billy, Chan-Lee, and Jake cheered.

The other team, which consisted of Dan, Alice, Fabia, Shun, and Julie groaned, while Marucho wrote something down on his notepad.

Since there were only eight of them on the school team, the Brawlers were short on two people to make two teams of five for a practice game. Julie and Jake volunteered to play, but Marucho decided to watch and see if there were any new game strategies the Brawlers could use or any improvements to be made.

"Ok, Dan, I know you want to be in the action, but you're literally running everywhere on the court," said Marucho, consulting his notepad. "One minute you're guarding Joe, and the next you ran off to guard Runo, leaving Joe completely open. Alice could've covered Runo, so you didn't need to worry. And your team needs to spread out a bit. You guys are always clustered around some corner, making it easy for the other team to score."

Usually, Dan would've yelled in outrage, but this time, he knew Marucho was only trying to help. "All right, thanks dude," said Dan.

"I think it's time for a break," said Billy, panting.

"Cold soda, anyone?" asked Joe, "It's in the refrigerator-WHOA."

Joe seized the back of Dan's and Billy's shirts as they both tried to run inside the house first. "No need to rush, there's enough for everyone."

"Uhm, thanks for the offer, but I'm gonna head home now," said Fabia as she started to walk back in the direction of her house.

"Why?" asked Chan, but Fabia was already half-way down the street.

~Basketball Brawlers~

_Monday, during lunch…_

"All right, tomorrow's the game!" exclaimed Dan.

"Yes, and today's the last practice, so we better keep our heads together," said Joe.

"Uhm…speaking of the game…"started Fabia.

"Yeah?" asked Dan.

"I'm not gonna be…erm…attending…" Fabia finished.

"WHAT?" exclaimed Dan. "Why not?"

"Well…you see…"

"Just say it, Fabia," encouraged Alice.

"It's Jin's funeral that day…"

**Please review!**


	17. The Funeral and the Dream

**Man, one week back at school and I'm hating it already, haha. **

**But anyways, thanks to my reviewers: JazzGirl123, RunoandAkizafan, sakurayamato1, AquosBrawlerStar, katzike123, and Jackpot 2.**

**In her review, JazzGirl123 sent me a wonderful suggestion, which I will use in this story, so credits to her for the idea.**

**Which leads me to another note: If you guys have any suggestions, feel free to tell me in your reviews or PMs. I may or may not use it, but please don't be offended if I don't use it. Also, please make sure the idea is relevant to the story/chapter, not any random suggestion. And of course, I will always give whoever gave me the suggestion some credit.**

**Oh, and I FINALLY decided to update my profile and I will motivate myself to update it frequently and post my progress on chapters. So check there if you wish to see my progress. **

**On with the story! And this time, I PROMISE YOU, I will get back on track with the actual basketball games and such next chapter.  
**

_Monday, during practice…_

"So, who's missing today?" asked Coach Harben, consulting his attendance sheet during practice.

"Fabia," answered Runo.

"Oh…that's strange, she's never missed a practice before. In fact, the only person who's ever missed a practice was you, Dan, no offense."

"None taken," replied Dan.

"So, anyone know what happened to Fabia?"

"She didn't say, but I'm assuming it has something to do with Jin," said Shun.

"Who's Jin?"

"Fabia's brother," replied Chan.

"He died in a car accident. Drunk driver," explained Joe.

"Oh my…" said Coach Harben.

"Oh, and she's not gonna be attending the game tomorrow either," added Alice. "That's the date for Jin's funeral."

"Funeral?" asked Coach Harben. "I see."

"Er, coach?" asked Dan. "Would it be possible to…miss the game tomorrow? And go to Jin's funeral to support Fabia? Because right now, she needs us more than ever."

"Well, I'm all for it, but then that would mean _Lightning Strike, _the team that we're supposed to play against tomorrow would automatically win," said Coach Harben. Meaning, you would miss your third game, decreasing your chances for getting into the semi-finals. So, let's have a vote. Who wants to play the game tomorrow?"

Not a single hand shot up in the air.

Coach Harben grinned. "And who wants to attend Jin's funeral?"

All the brawlers raised their hands.

Coach Harben smiled. "I'm touched that you guys care so much for your friend. I'm going to be attending too."

"Really? Sweet!" exclaimed Dan. "Fabia's in for one HUGE surprise!"

~Basketball Brawlers~

Fabia stared at the casket containing her brother's body, lost in thought. "Jin," she whispered. "I never really did get to tell you how much I love you, how much you meant to me. Had I known this was going to happen…"

"No one could've predicted this was going to happen, Fabia."

Fabia turned around to see Dan and the Brawlers, dressed in dark colors, smiling and waving at her.

"Wh-what? Wh-what are you…I mean ar-aren't you supposed t-to be at your b-basketball-"

"Yeah, but we decided Jin was way more important than shooting some hoops. Coach Harben's here too," said Joe, turning to look at their coach who was talking to Serena.

Fabia smiled, and willed herself not to cry. "Y-you guys are the most amazing friends ever. Thank you…"

Shun nodded but something caught his eye. He turned to see a group of teenagers in basketball jerseys walking towards them. Their outfits threw Shun off-guard for a second. After all, this was a funeral, not a basketball game, but when he read what their jerseys said, he understood.

"Guys," started Shun, "Fabia's not the only one who's getting a surprised today."

The Brawlers turned around just in time to see the teens stop right in front of them and gasped when they read the name on the jerseys: Lightning Strike.

"I hope we're not too late," said a girl from the group.

"Not at all," replied Alice, smiling. "But why-"

"We heard about what happened," said the boy from the basketball team. Judging from the way he acted and held himself, he was probably the captain. "Our coach told us the situation and our team decided to rush here as fast as we could when we heard the news."

"So is your coach here too?" asked Joe.

"Yup," replied the caption, jerking his head in the direction of his coach, who had now joined in on the conversation between Serena and Coach Harben.

"We're really sorry about your loss," said the girl.

Fabia wiped away her tears. She wasn't going to cry anymore; she had done too much of that already. "Thank you so much, all of you, for coming. This means...a lot to me."

~Basketball Brawlers~

After the funeral was over, Fabia and Serena thanked everyone for coming. Night was approaching, so Serena quickly drove Fabia back home. Fabia was one of the happiest girls in the world. Of course, she was still grieving for Jin, but thrilled that her friends came, and grateful to _Lightning Strike_ for giving up their basketball game as well.

However, Fabia was also one of the most tired girls. So the minute she got home, Fabia went straight to her bed and fell asleep. And as she slept, she dreamed.

~Basketball Brawlers~

"Fabia…"

"Huh? Who's there?"

Fabia opened her eyes to a pure, white room. Not a speck of dirt could be seen on the floors. In fact, it was pretty hard to tell if it really was a room. It seemed so endless.

"Show yourself!" Fabia exclaimed.

A beautiful woman appeared in front of her with midnight blue hair, almost matching Fabia's. The two of them looked so much alike, that Fabia could hardly stop herself from asking, "Do I know you?"

"Well," the woman started. "You've heard of me. From Shun, I presume."

Fabia gasped. "Are you, Shun's mother?"

The woman nodded. "My name is Shiori. It's a pleasure to meet you, Fabia." **(AN: I didn't really know Shun's mom's real name, so I just put a random one in there. But if you guys do know, please let me know in a review.)**

"How do you know my name?"

Shiori smiled. "From Jin."

"Is he…here? I mean…can I see him?"

Shiori stepped aside to reveal Jin walking towards Fabia, smiling and bouncing a basketball in his hand.

"Jin!" exclaimed Fabia, running towards him. She meant to embrace him in a hug, but merely went through him, as if he was merely a hologram.

"What…" started Fabia, looking at her hands. "I don't understand…"

"You don't need to understand everything, Fabia," said Jin. "Just understand this: I love you and I don't want you miserable and staying in bed all the time because of my death."

"Jin..." said Fabia softly, looking down. It was then when she finally realized he was bouncing a basketball in his hands. "What's that for?"

"Oh this?" asked Jin, smiling. "Well, since you missed your basketball game today…I thought I'd practice with you."

"But where are we gonna find-"

But Jin merely pointed behind Fabia and she turned around to see a basketball hoop. Fabia blinked. She was sure this room didn't have one before.

"How-"

"Like I said, you don't need to understand everything," said Jin. "Now let's go shoot some hoops."

Fabia grinned. "You're on."

~Basketball Brawlers~

"Fabia?" asked Serena, as she knocked on Fabia's door. "Are you still awake?"

Serena opened the door and saw Fabia sleeping soundly in her bed, with a smile on her face.

Smiling as well, Serena gently closed the door and walked downstairs.

**Thanks again to JazzGirl123 for the idea! Don't forget to review! **


	18. The Fourth Game

**Hey guys sorry I couldn't update last week. I caught a cold and was sick for the entire three-day weekend. Yeah, sucks having to be sick on the weekend…but at least it IS the weekend right? So you don't have you miss out on school and make up all the stuff…but anyways I'm back and I'm whole and healthy xD. **

**Thanks for reviewing: Jackpot 2, flippy17, RunoandAkizafan, JazzGirl123, alicefrombakugan, Daniela, MarshmellowsSleeping, sakurayamato1, katzike123, Hawkgirl230, lorenzo7, and ShiningSunrise**

**I'm also sorry that this story kind of wavered a bit and went off track in the last few chapters, but I didn't really want to just leave Chapter 15 (In Loving Memory) out there by itself because then…well let's just say the story wouldn't make much sense if I just stuck in that chapter and then moved on to something else. I like transitioning because it makes everything easier to read. **

**Moving on, enjoy the chapter!**

"All right guys…this is it," said Dan as the Brawlers sat on a bench. They were just about to start their fourth game against Team Blaze at the school of Pyrus.

Joe nodded. "This is the game we HAVE to win."

"And…if we lose?" asked Alice.

"Then…the Basketball Brawlers are history," answered Joe. "No more basketball practices, no more basketball games."

"Worst, no more being able to get out of math class early," added Dan. Runo and Shun facepalmed.

"We WILL win," said Chan-Lee. "We WILL make it to the semi-finals."

"Then…what are we waiting for?" asked Coach Harben. "Get out there and knock them dead."

"All right then, let's do it!" exclaimed Dan as he Brawlers put their hands in a circle.

"One…two…three…BASKETBALL BRAWLERS!"

Billy went to the center of the court to do the tip-off while Dan, Chan, Alice, and Fabia ran to their starting positions.

When the referee threw the basketball in the air, a boy from the other team grabbed it first and passed it to a girl on his team. The girl quickly dribbled towards the basketball hoop and shot the ball into the air.

Luckily for the Brawlers Dan was there and jumped high enough to block it. The ball bounced from his hands and went outside of the court.

"He touched it last!" exclaimed the girl, pointing at Dan.

"Dammit," Dan cursed only so that Billy, who was next to him could hear.

"Don't worry man," said Billy. "You blocked the shot! The score's still zero to zero."

On the bleachers, Joe gave out a sigh of relief. Things were looking good…so far.

The girl walked to the sidelines where the referee handed her the ball. She threw it to another girl on her team, who accidentally passed it to Alice, mistaking her for her teammate.

But now that Alice was in possession of the ball, she was _freaking _out. The opposing team was crowding around her, waiting for a chance to steal the ball right from her hands. Hey eyes drifted in all directions, looking for an open teammate until she heard Dan.

"Alice! Over here, pass it to me!" exclaimed Dan, waving his arms in the air.

Silently thanking Dan for getting her out of her situation, she passed it to Dan who quickly dribbled down the court.

"GO, DAN, GO!" exclaimed Runo from the bleachers as she cheered for her boyfriend.

Dan grinned after hearing Runo's words and made a layup for his team, earning them the first two points of the game.

"YEAH! THAT'S IT DAN!" shouted Runo as Dan high-fived Billy, Fabia, Alice, and Chan.

"Good work guys, keep it up!" exclaimed Coach Harben.

But as the Brawlers were cheering, Team Pyrus was MAD. So when a boy stood outside of the court and threw the basketball to a girl on her team, she lightning-fast, bolting straight for the court. But her speed was no match for Fabia who quickly stole the ball and shot a three-pointer.

The Brawlers sitting on the bleachers appluaded as Fabia, Alice, and Runo, got in a group hug and jumped around, cheering at Fabia's shot.

It was as if some sort of scientific experiment had occurred overnight and the Brawlers had been injected with some sort of high-energy chemical. Things were going so well, it was almost impossible to believe.

The final score was incredible. Team Pyrus had only scored 16 points while the Basket Brawlers earned themselves 63 points.

"See? I knew you guys could do it!" exclaimed Coach Harben proudly as he and the Brawlers rode home on the bus

"We did it! We did it! We did it!" the girls chanted while the boys were laughing and joking about the funniest parts of the game.

"Remember when Dan just chucked the ball randomly when he was surrounded by the other team?" asked Billy.

"Yeah, I can't believe it bounced off that girls head and landed in Chan's hands," laughed Joe as Dan and Shun joined in with the laughter.

Coach Harben smiled at his team's spirit, but one thing was bothering him. This was the only game that they had won so far, and the only game in which the Brawlers actually scored first. Whenever the other team scored first, it would usually put the Brawlers in a depressed mood for the rest of the game, resulting in a loss.

What if…the only way to win was to get the Brawlers to score before the other team in the beginning of a game?

The Gundalians had a reputation of the being the team to score first during _every, single_ game. So if that was the case…could this team really win the championships?

**I know this chapter isn't really descriptive, but I'm saving all the basketball details for the ultimate game between the Brawlers and the Gundalians so stay tuned! Don't forget to review!**


	19. Coach Harben, Gone

**Sorry for not updating for a while…I don't have much motivation these days. But then I looked back on this and thought about how I already wrote 18 chapters, might as well **_**try **_**to finish it. Anyways, I'm back with the 19****th**** chapter.**

**Thanks to those who reviewed: sakurayamato1, RunoandAkizafan, RunoRulz, flippy17, katzike123, DawnBerlitz, AlicexShunNotFabia, AquosBrawlerStar, JazzGirl123, Hawkgirl230, Fin Degados, PussyCatMewMew, and shadowwing1994. **

**And yes, Ren shall appear soon. **

_Monday, during lunch…_

"I can't believe it, we actually won a game!" exclaimed Chan-lee.

"If we can make it past the semi-finals, then we can win the championships!" added Dan.

"Don't get your hopes up too high, Dan," warned Shun. "Keep your head in the game."

"Oh don't be suck a killjoy," said Julie. "This is the first game you guys won. I think that deserves some celebration."

"How about we save it until after the championships, eh?" suggested Joe, who was on Shun's side. "It's more fun that way."

"Sounds good to me!" exclaimed Dan as the bell rang. "Well, gotta get to class now. See you guys at practice!"

_After school in the gym…_

"Dude…what gives?" asked Dan.

"It's past three," said Billy, checking the clock on the wall. "Coach should be here by now."

"I hope he's ok," said Alice, nervously.

"I'm sure he's fine," said Shun. "He's probably just running late-"

"LOOK OUT!"

A soccer ball came hurling inside the gym that had its doors wide open, towards Shun's head, but he managed to catch it in time, due to his ninja training.

"Sorry about that!" exclaimed a girl, running from the soccer field.

"No problem," said Shun, tossing her the ball.

"Hey, are you guys the Basketball Brawlers?" she asked as she caught the ball.

"Yup, that's us," answered Joe.

"Congrats on the win on Friday."

"Thanks," said Runo. "Who are you?"

"My name is Riley, I'm a senior on the varsity soccer team. Why are you all just standing there?"

"We're waiting for our coach," replied Fabia.

"Who is your coach?"

"Mr. Harben."

"You guys didn't hear the news? Isn't he your P.E. teacher?"

"Yeah, but he was present today," said Chan.

"When do you guys have P.E.?"

"Third period."

"Ah…no wonder. He left right away as soon as lunch ended."

"Why?" asked Dan.

"He got a call from Maryland saying his sister is ill."

"So he's…gone?"

"Well…probably not forever. But for now, yes, he'll be staying in Maryland for a while."

"But then what about us?" asked Joe. "We need a coach!"

Riley shrugged. "I don't know…I have to get back to my team now. Hope it works out for you guys."

As Riley left the gym, the Brawlers exchanged looks.

"No coach…oh man, what are we going to do now?" asked Billy.

"Simple, we coach ourselves," said Dan.

"WHAT?" asked the whole team, minus Dan.

"We know what to do," replied Dan. "We know Coach Harben's practice style, you know, the usual: run some laps, do some drills, and then a practice game."

"But _us…_teaching ourselves?" asked Fabia. "I don't know…"

"What about the other teachers in the school?" asked Alice. "Maybe they could coach us…"

Dan shook his head. "It's already the middle of the season. Everyone's gonna be busy. I heard those teachers who aren't coaching sports have some online class going on anyway, so it wouldn't work out."

"I guess we have no choice then," said Runo.

"We'll just have to coach ourselves until Mr. Harben gets back," said Shun. "Let's all pray his sister gets well, not just so we can get our coach back, but for her sake as well."

**Yes, I know this was SUPER SHORT, but I wanted to post at least something.**

**This chapter was based on a true story, mine. My coach had to go away for a while and my team had to actually coach ourselves, lol. But anyways, please review! **


	20. Practice without a Coach

**Well since I'm gonna have a three-day weekend (and I think many of you do as well) I'm going to have plenty of time to update. So I took my free time today to write this chapter. **

**Thanks for reviewing: RunoandAkizafan, JazzGirl123, AquosBrawlerStar, alicefrombakugan, MarshmellosSleeping, katzike123, PussyCatMewMew, shadowwing1994, and Shining Sunrise. **

_Tuesday, during practice…_

"All right guys, let's do this! 20 laps!" exclaimed Dan.

"Who put you in charge?" demanded Runo, putting a hand on her hip.

"Well aren't I the team captain?"

"That doesn't make you the boss of everyone!"

"Guys!" interjected Joe. "We're here to practice not fight. Runo's right, Dan. Just because you're the captain, doesn't mean you're in charge. However, I'm all for the idea of 20 laps. We started with 10 laps in the beginning of the season. But now, we should be able to do more. So let's hop to it guys!"

"Assuming of course that Dan joins the jog as well?" asked Runo with her eyebrows raised.

"Of course…" said Dan, frowning slightly.

Runo smirked and ran forward, bumping Dan on the shoulder as she ran past him. "LAST ONE TO COMPLETE THE LAPS IS A ROTTEN EGG!"

It was no surprise to the team when Dan finished last.

"Well, it was first your fault to suggest 20 laps in the first place," said Shun.

Too tired to speak, Dan glared at Shun while Shun merely gave him a smirk in return.

"Drill time!" exclaimed Chan as she and Fabia ran to the basketball cart. They grabbed a couple of balls and dribbled them back to the court where the rest of the team had already lined up in two lines.

Chan passed her ball to Fabia who passed it on to the person behind her, Billy. Clutching her own ball, Fabia dribbled towards the net and then took a couple more additional steps before extending her right hand and throwing the basketball towards the hoop. Meanwhile, Chan, who was standing in the other line, ran forward to be prepared to catch the ball, whether it went in the net or not.

Bong! The ball hit the rim and bounced out, but it gave Chan the opportunity to practice her rebounding skills. Chan jumped up, caught the ball into her own hands and then dribbled to the opposite line where she passed the ball to Dan who was waiting behind Billy before going to the back of the line herself. Fabia had already ran to Chan's original line and waited for her turn at rebounding.

Billy was next at attempting a layup while Shun got ready to rebound. As Billy dribbled the ball, Shun ran forward to get ready to catch it. Swish! The ball went in without touching the rim and Shun caught the ball as it came down the net.

"Nice, one Billy!" exclaimed Joe, high-fiving his friend as he got ready for his turn.

The kept at the drill for about fifteen minutes and then decided to practice passing and defending. After thirty minutes, the team decided to take a five minute break.

"Hey, Runo, toss me my water bottle," said Dan as he sat down on the bleachers.

Runo looked at Dan, raising her eyebrows again.

"Please?" asked Dan.

"Why couldn't you get it yourself?" asked Runo, handing him the bottle nevertheless. "You always have me do things for you."

"You're closer," replied Dan, taking a big gulp of water.

"Are you sure it's not because I'm a _girl_?" asked Runo, suspicious.

"Now if that was the case, I'd ask you to make me a sandwich," laughed Dan.

Runo used her own bottle to splash some water on Dan's face.

"Ok, I deserved that," said Dan, wiping some water off his forehead.

"You know it," smirked Runo, handing him a towel.

"Hey guys, ready for a practice game?" asked Alice as she walked towards the two. "Ew, Dan, you're sweating a lot."

"It's not sweat!" exclaimed Dan as Runo laughed. "It's the water from Runo's water bottle!"

"Right…" said Alice. "Anyways, Joe wants us on the court now, so c'mon."

"Runo, help me up," said Dan, extending his hand as Alice left.

Runo did her best to avoid rolling her eyes as she helped her boyfriend to his feet. Then the two quickly ran towards the court where Joe was impatiently tapping his left foot.

"Sorry," said Runo sheepishly.

"Just don't drag out the five minute break next time," said Joe. "I said five minutes for a reason. But anyways, Runo, you're on my team along with Fabia and Shun. Dan you're with Billy, Alice, and Chan. Let's do this."

"Man," said Dan to Chan as the team positioned themselves on the court. "Joe certainly seems more of a captain than I am. Maybe we should switch."

Chan shook her head. "He just wanted to get the practice going, that's all. Besides, Joe doesn't like being the leader or captain of anything. Well, except maybe for Bakugan since he did create that website and gather everyone around to prepare for the rise of Naga, but other than that he just wants to be more of a follower."

"Ready?" asked Joe as he stood in the middle of the court holding the ball with Shun and Billy on opposite sides of him. "Go!"

Joe tossed up the ball and as it came down, Shun smacked the ball straight into Runo's hands and in turn, she dribbled towards the net as the rest of the team followed after her.

_Wow, _thought Riley, as she passed by the gym to retrieve another stray soccer ball. She watched as Runo passed it to Joe who made a layup. The whole team cheered and gave Joe high-fives before resuming play. _If Coach Harben was still here, I'd bet anything he would be proud of this team. They're functioning well without a coach. I expected chaos, but not formation like this. Keep up the good work Brawlers. _

**Don't forget to review! **


	21. A New Coach

**Well…not much to say here since it would be pretty pointless for me to apologize yet AGAIN for updating so late.**

**But of course, as usual, I would like to thank my reviewers: RunoandAkizafan, Hawkgirl230, JazzGirl123, shadowwing1994, katzike123, PussyCatMewMew, AquosBrawlerStar, lily321, flippy17, MarshmellowsSleeping, and Shining Sunrise.**

_Thursday, during lunch…_

"Hey, Joe?" asked Dan.

"Yeah?"

"How are we supposed to know when our next game is?"

"Why are you asking me? You're the captain."

"But you were on the team last year."

"Touche. Unfortunately, I _don't _know when our next game is."

"So how are we supposed to win the championships then?" asked Runo.

"Maybe we can ask another coach after school," suggested Alice. "Perhaps…Riley's coach?"

"Riley does soccer," said Billy. "We play basketball."

"But I'm sure more than one coach knows the schedule, I mean the soccer and basketball seasons are both alike," replied Fabia.

"After school then," said Shun. "We'll go to her coach during practice."

_After school…_

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Riley when she saw the Brawlers approaching. "This is the soccer field. The gym's that way."

"We have a question for your coach," said Chan.

"My coach does soccer…not basketball…"

"What's going on here, Riley?" asked a woman, striding over to them carrying a clipboard.

"Uhm…these guys are on the basketball team…they want to ask you a question," said Riley, still confused.

"Hello, Brawlers, that's your team name, yes?" asked the woman. "I'm Coach Fern, is there anything you desire?"

"Yes, do you know the schedule for the season's games?" asked Dan.

"As a matter of fact, I do. They printed the schedule on the same sheet of paper for basketball and soccer as to not waste paper," exclaimed Coach Fern, handing Dan a green piece of paper from her clipboard.

"Damn, our next game is on Tuesday!" exclaimed Dan.

"Watch your language," whispered Runo. "There's a teacher here."

"Doesn't your coach inform you of games a week before?" asked Coach Fern, apparently not noticing Dan's use of language.

"Uhm…you didn't know, Coach?" asked Riley.

"Know what?"

"Our Coach went to Maryland to take care of his ill sister," explained Shun.

"WHAT!" exclaimed Coach Fern. "How come no one tells me anything!"

"Well...now you know," said Riley.

"Riley, go run laps with your teammates," ordered Coach Fern. "Time is ticking."

Riley sighed and ran off to the field to join her running friends.

"Sorry for wasting your time," said Alice. "I suppose we'll just go-"

"Oh no," replied Coach Fern. "I mean, she was just standing here while everyone else was running laps; that's not fair. But anyways, you can keep that copy. I have a couple more in my office."

"Thanks a lot Ms. Fern!" exclaimed Joe.

"Oh, I almost forgot," said Coach Fern, stopping them before the Brawlers could start practice.

"Yes?" asked Chan.

"You said that Coach Harben was gone. You need a coach with you during games, or else, you won't be allowed to play."

"WHAT?" exclaimed Dan.

"If your coach is gone, then the other coaches may have been informed of that, and may have re-scheduled the games, while excluding your team out since you're not allowed to play with a coach."

"THEY INFORMED THE OTHER COACHES TOO?" cried Dan. "Oh man, NOW WE WON'T GET TO PLAY AT ALL, EVEN IF WE DO FIND A NEW COACH!"

"Hold your basketballs, I said 'may'," said Coach Fern. "It may not be too late. I suggest you go talk to the head of the sports department, Ms. Grelly. She coaches swimming but that starts after basketball ends. She should be in Room 401. Hurry though."

"Will do, thanks again!" exclaimed Billy as the rest of the Brawlers rushed towards her room.

~Basketball Brawlers~

"MS. GRELLY!" exclaimed Dan, bursting through the classroom's doors.

The woman sitting in the teacher's chair jumped. "Goodness! Young man, there is no need to shout."

"IT'S AN EMERGENCY!"

"Unless you start speaking normally, I refuse to listen to you."

"Okay, sorry. We are the Basketball Brawlers and-"

"Ah, say no more," said Ms. Grelly, interrupting him. "I was just about to send an e-mail to the other coaches about-"

"NO! DON'T!"

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SHOUTING!"

"Uh, Miss, you're shouting too," said Alice, quietly.

"Oh right, apologies. What do you mean 'no'? We've tried searching for a new coach for you, but no luck. Not very many teachers can coach basketball, and those who can are extremely busy. You cannot play a game without a coach, it's the rules."

"We'll fine one!" exclaimed Dan.

The Brawlers gaped at him.

"Excuse me?" asked Ms. Gelly.

"We'll find a new coach!"

Ms. Gelly frowned. "I am supposed to e-mail the coaches by the end of the school week. Meaning, Friday, tomorrow, is the deadline. How are you going to find a coach in time?"

"We'll find one," said Dan, determinedly. "I promise."

"I see…" replied Ms. Gelly, still unbelieving. "Well inform me tomorrow, whether you have or have not and I shall send the e-mail. Now I have work to get done. Please leave my classroom. Good day to you."

~Basketball Brawlers~

"Dan…" said Shun as they left the classroom. "_How_ are we supposed to find a new coach by tomorrow?"

Dan grinned. "Easy. I already thought of one person."

"Who?" asked Runo.

"My dad!" exclaimed Dan.

The Brawlers blinked.

"Your…_dad?" _repeated Billy.

"Does he know anything about basketball?" asked Joe.

"Yeah, he told me he used to play in High School."

"Is he…good?" asked Fabia.

"Well…" said Dan, scratching his head. "There was something else he told me, but I forgot. But guys, what choice do we have?"

Shun shrugged. "I guess this is our best shot. Think he'll agree to it?"

"Of course!"

_That night, in the Kuso residence…_

"Dad?" asked Dan. "Are you…busy?"

"Right now, or in general?" asked Mr. Kuso.

"Both."

"Not really."

"Right now, or in general?" asked Dan, grinning.

"Both," said Mr. Kuso, returning the smile. "What's up?"

"Here's the thing. My basketball coach is gone; he went to Maryland to take care of his ill sister. My team needs a coach in order to continue to play games. You told me earlier when I first joined the basketball team that you used to play in High School. Can you please, please coach us?" Dan said this all really fast.

"Coach…your team?" asked Mr. Kuso.

"Don't make me beg, Dad."

Mr. Kuso laughed. "Of course, I'll be your coach. When's the next game?"

"Tuesday."

"Wow, a little less than a week to prepare. I think we can handle it."

"So can you come to my school to coach us? School ends at 2:45 but practice starts at three. You can meet us in the gym."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll be there."

"Thanks, Dad, you're the best!"

_Friday, during the walk to Ms. Gelly's classroom during lunch…_

"He said yes?" asked Shun as they walked.

"Yup!" exclaimed Dan. "Agreed to it right away!"

Joe knocked on the door of Ms. Gelly's classroom and a muffled voice from the inside told them to come in.

"Ah, the Basketball Brawlers. And?"

"My dad agreed to coach us," said Dan.

"Really? Does he have experience in coaching?"

"Well he has experience in basketball. Please, PLEASE LET US CONTINUE PLAYING."

Ms. Gelly raised her eyebrows.

"Sorry. I meant, please let us continue playing. We can beat those Gundalians, I know it."

Ms. Gelly sighed. "All right. Good luck to you."

"Thank you!" exclaimed Dan, rushing towards the door and yanking it open. "You won't regret it!"

Ms. Gelly sighed again as the Brawlers left. "I hope so."

~Basketball Brawlers~

"That's the bell," said Billy, taking off towards his next class. "See you guys at practice!"

"Sure thing, dude!" exclaimed Dan as he walked towards his next class. _There's one thing still bothering me, _he thought. _Something else Dad told me…what was it?_

Suddenly, it clicked.

_Flasback…_

_"Nice choice. I used to play that when I was in High School," replied Dan's father._

_"Were you good?" asked Dan._

_"Not really," laughed Dan's father. "My team lost every game!"_

_End of flashback…_

"Shit."

**Sorry about any grammar mistakes and all. I think this is one of my longer chapters. Please review! **


	22. Different Coach, Different Practice

**Nothing to say except to thank my reviewers: AlicexShunNotFabia, JazzGirl123, RunoandAkizafan, flippy17, AquosBrawlerStar, Hawkgirl230, shadowwing1994, and katzike123.**

**Enjoy the next chapter.**

_During practice…_

"Dan, are you okay?" asked Alice.

Dan, who was fiddling with his thumbs nodded.

"You've been out of it ever since we told Ms. Gelly we hired your dad to be our coach," added Joe.

"I'm fine. Just…uhm…thinking about my math test I have tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is Satruday," Fabia pointed out.

"Right…I knew that…just excited about our next game!" Dan exclaimed a little too enthusiastically.

"Dan…what did you do…" asked Runo.

"I…er…hey, look my dad's here, time to start practice!" exclaimed Dan, pointing to his father.

Shun raised his eyebrows. Something was up. Shun could always tell, being Dan's best friend.

"So…how do you guys usually start practice?" asked Mr. Kuso.

"Well, Coach Harben takes attendance first," replied Chan-Lee.

"Bah, calling out names is a waste of time. Let's just assume everyone's here, moving on!"

"Then we usually run a few laps," said Billy, deciding not to point out that Mr. Kuso could've merely counted the Brawlers instead of calling out names. Not like Mr. Kuso had a choice anyway, he didn't even have the clipboard containing the names of those on the team.

"Oh I see…laps around the gym?"

"Around the inside perimeter of the gym. Basically around those cones," explained Shun, pointing at the cones which were placed at each of the four corners.

"Okay…so…50 laps then?"

Billy's eyes widened. "I said we usually run a _few _laps…"

"20 laps," said Dan. He was a little embarrassed at his father and wanted to get the practice over and done with.

"Oh…okay…I guess I'll just watch you run then…" said Mr. Kuso, awkwardly.

Dan lagged behind the Brawlers a little to think as he ran. He didn't have the heart to tell his teammates that he had probably chosen the wrong person to coach them and he certainly didn't want to fire his father either. This basketball season's getting tougher and tougher…

"So, what next? Drills?" asked Mr. Kuso as they finished running.

Joe nodded and ran towards the basketball cart, and tossing two balls back to his teammates who were already in two lines.

"Oh, great shot, Shun!" exclaimed Mr. Kuso after Shun shot the ball in the basket without even touching the rim. "Was that a layup?"

"Actually, it was a jump shot," Shun corrected kindly, but it was enough to make Dan's stomach churn. He silently prayed for time to run faster to end practice sooner.

But, that was how practice went. Mr. Kuso was great at inspiring and encouraging the team: He cheered when they made a shot and gave words of encouragement when they missed. Not one single member was left out.

Unfortunately, that happened to be the only thing he was good at. He couldn't tell which shot was a layup, he had forgotten how to do the three-man-weave, which was a very useful basketball strategy, and he forgot to count the total scores of their practice game so no one knew which team won.

"That was fun!" exclaimed Mr. Kuso as the Brawlers walked out of the gym. "Say Dan, I'm going to the bathroom for a bit, then we'll go home okay?" And without waiting for an answer, he dashed into the boy's locker room.

"Well…that wasn't too bad…" said Alice.

"Oh, let's face it…we're screwed," said Dan, plopping himself on the ground.

"Did you finally remember that 'thing' your dad told you?" asked Shun.

Dan sighed. "He told me he used to play basketball in high school."

"You told us that already," said Chan.

"But he also told me that his team lost every single game."

Runo groaned while Billy facepalmed.

"Thanks a lot, now WE'RE the ones who are gonna be losing 'every single game!'" shouted Runo.

"I bet he doesn't even know when the next game is," added Billy.

"Guys!" exclaimed Alice. "Mr. Kuso may hear us…"

"But the past is the past," said Joe. "Look, we won the last game right? I mean sure, Coach Harben helped us train and everything but did he actually play in that game? No. _We_ did. _We _won that game. But even though Coach Harben's gone, we still know what to do. We know how to train ourselves."

"It'd be nice if we actually got a coach who knew basketball though," said Fabia.

Joe sighed. "True, it _would _be nice. But as Dan said before, we have no choice. It was either Mr. Kuso, or no more basketball."

"And guys, think about this," said Alice. "We have a coach who cheers us on and doesn't put us down when we miss a shot. He makes us feel good about ourselves and gives us confidence, something we'll need in a game."

"I guess you're right," said Dan, getting up. "We should be appreciating his efforts, instead of complaining about him. Me especially, since he's my dad. And Billy, he does know. I told him the game was on Tuesday."

Alice nodded. "I think Mr. Kuso is-"

"I'm what?" asked Mr. Kuso, walking out of the bathroom.

"Er, the best coach ever!" exclaimed Alice.

"That's sweet of you to say," said Mr. Kuso, smiling. "Let's go, Dan. Time to head home."

"See you guys later!" exclaimed Dan, waving to his friends as he walked with his dad to the car.

"So…how was I?" asked Mr. Kuso once they were out of earshot of the team.

"Uhm…you were great-"

"Dan, you don't need to lie. I know that girl with the orange hair didn't really mean what she said. I know I shouldn't be coaching you. I didn't even know half the basketball terms you guys were referring to."

"But you gave is encouragement and inspiration. When Shun made that shot, you cheered for him. When Alice missed, you told her that she was very close and perhaps if she tried again, she would be able to make a shot. Okay, I'll admit, you're probably not the best person tobe coaching us…" said Dan with a nervous laugh. "But the team needs you…I need you."

Mr. Kuso smiled slightly. "Then…I'll be there for you. C'mon, we need to get home before Mother starts to worry."

"I doubt it, she's probably still working out," joked Dan as he got in the car.

**Please review! **


	23. The Gundalians

**Hey! I actually updated on time…sort of. **

**Anyways, thanks to my reviewers: RunoandAkizafan, JazzGirl123, ShiningSunrise, katzike123, lazy girl shut up, shadowwing1994, flippy17, AquosBrawlerStar, MarshmellowsSleeping, jackiechanadventuresfan16, and Blue eyes arch angel. **

**A quick reply to a review:(yes, I am aware of the replying system, but some people don't leave signed reviews, which actually doesn't really bother me one bit because I'm the one who enabled anonymous reviews in the first place. But there are some that need replying to and I shall reply to them here.)**

**Lazy girl shut up: Either you haven't read the entire story, my author's notes, or you're asking again because it's taking quite a while for Ren to show up. If it's the first two…well my advice to you would be to read the story and my author notes (the things in bold)…If it's the third one, I don't blame you. But he'll come soon. In fact…read the next paragraph…**

**Now for the moment (most of you) have been waiting for…in chapter 23 a certain SOMEONE with white/silver/gray hair and yellow reptile eyes shows up…I'll say no more here and leave you to read.**

**Enjoy!**

_Tuesday, during lunch…_

"Well…we knew we were gonna have to face them sometime soon…" said Alice, looking extremely nervous.

"I just feel _really _unprepared, you know what I mean?" asked Billy.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine, Billy!" exclaimed Julie.

The Brawlers were sitting at their usual table in the cafeteria consulting the basketball game schedule Coach Fern had given to them the other day. They were to have a game today and it was with their own rival.

"Tuesday came so fast!" exclaimed Chan. "Monday went by like a breeze!"

"The Gundalians…just saying their name gives me the creeps," said Fabia.

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," said Shun, wisely. **(A/N: Yeah, Harry Potter quote, whoo hoo! I just thought it would be something Shun would say.)**

"Dude…what does that even mean?" asked Dan.

"Simple. If you're afraid of the Gundalians' name, you're only increasing your fear of the actual Gundalians," Marucho explained.

Dan scratched his head. "Again…what does that even mean?"

Runo rolled her eyes. "We're most likely gonna lose if we keep thinking about how the Gundalians totally kicked our butts last year."

"Bah, like Joe said earlier, the past is the past," said Dan, waving away Runo's explanation. "This year is OUR year!"

"That's the spirit, Dan the man!" exclaimed Jake.

Joe smiled. "We'll be needing lots of spirit for this game. And what better person to give it to us than Coach Kuso?"

_Coach Kuso…_that sounded a little weird in Dan's head, but he shrugged it off and asked Joe, "Are the Gundalians really that tough?"

"What do you think?" asked Joe. "They won the championships two times in a row and I don't think they want to ruin their record."

"So how do we move up into the championships anyway?" asked Billy.

"We're going to play three games in the semi-finals," explained Joe. "If we win at least two, we'll be bumped up into the championships."

"At _least_ two?" asked Fabia. "We're dead."

"We'll be fine," said Shun, although Dan thought he could detect the tiniest trace of uncertainty in his voice, which surprised Dan, but scared him even more. If Shun was nervous, the team was most likely doomed.

_After school…inside the Gundalians' gym…_

"So…those are the Gundalians, eh?" asked Shun as the Brawlers watched their opposing team shoot hoops. It looked like they had perfect form, perfect throws, perfect everything. Sure, a few balls missed the hoop, but they were quickly re-bounded by the tall and high-jumping players.

Billy did a low whistle. "Joe's right. They _are_ good."

"I wonder who's their coach?" asked Alice.

"Coach Barodius," explained Mr. Kuso, walking up to them. "We just introduced ourselves."

Dan raised his eyebrows. "You actually introduced yourself to the _enemy?" _

"Chill, Dan," said Shun, putting a hand on Dan's shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with getting to know each other before a game."

"It's just formalities," said Coach Kuso. "He's quite nice actually."

"Really?" asked Joe. "Coach Barodius…nice?"

"Yeah, he wished us good luck and asked me how things were going for me since I'm a new coach…why, what's wrong?"

"Uhm…it's nothing…" said Joe, looking away to stare at the Gundalians who were now discussing some strategies.

"Who's their captain, anyone know?" asked Chan.

"From the looks of it…that kid talking to the coach…the one with silver hair…or is it white? I dunno it could be gray…" said Runo, trailing off.

"Huh, I remember that guy from last year," said Joe. "Ren Krawler, and yes he is the captain of the Gundalians."

"Humph," said Dan, growling at Ren's direction. "I'd like to show him a thing or two." As the captain of the Brawlers, Dan did not like competition.

"Careful," warned Joe. "He's the best runner on the team, I mean he steals basketballs like crazy! He can shoot, but he's quick, as quick as Shun and Fabia…possibly even faster."

"Speaking of Fabia…she's been awfully quiet lately…anyone seen her?" asked Alice.

The Brawlers glanced around, trying to find the blue-haired girl in the gym. It wasn't until Runo snickered that everyone turned around in her direction to see Fabia staring at Ren.

"I think Fabia finally found her type," said Runo, smirking.

**So…finally, after 22 chapters, Ren Krawler has arrived! …Along with the rest of the Gundalians. **

**Please review and stay tuned for more chapters involving the Brawlers and their rivals!**


	24. Just Another Opponent

**I don't think I'll be able to update once a week anymore. High School is hell. But I'm still going to try to update once a week. If not, expect once every two weeks on updates. Uh…I'm not sure how many weeks have passed since the last chapter…but hope you enjoy this one anyway.**

**Thanks to those who reviewed: jackiechanadventuresfan16, katzike123, flippy17, RunoandAkizafan, JazzGirl123, PokeBakuFanfics, MarshmellowsSleeping, AquosBrawlerStar, Hawkgril230, ShiningSunrise,shadowwing1994, and lilpiggy169.**

"FABIA!" four voices yelled.

Fabia blinked as the ball whooshed right past her ear and bounced off the court. The game was underway, but a certain dark blue-haired girl certainly wasn't ready.

"Where's your head today, Fabia?" asked Dan.

"S-sorry!" exclaimed Fabia, shaking her head. "I was…lost in thought…"

"Thinking about what?" asked Joe.

"Uhm…Jin…" Fabia lied. Of course, she had been thinking about Ren, but no matter, the Brawlers believed her lie.

"Do you want out?" asked Alice.

"No, I'm fine, I can do this," said Fabia.

"All right then…" said Runo.

"They're starting! Everyone, back in position!" cried Joe and the Brawlers assembled themselves on the court.

"Fabia!" Dan cried. "Guard Ren!"

_Shit, why me? _Fabia thought, but she had no time to ask Dan. Just as Ren was about to make a shot, Fabia jumped and smacked the ball away. Dan grabbed it and took off towards the other side of the court.

But Ren was slowly catching up. Catching Fabia's eye, Dan passed to Fabia who continued the rest of the way towards the basket.

_Man! Joe was right! He IS fast, _thought Fabia as she did her best to run away from the Gundalian.

Unfortunately, he was much too quick for her and tried to steal the ball by sticking his arm out towards the side. Fabia's heart started pounding crazily and it wasn't from all the running either. Ren's golden eyes caught hers and just like that, something sparked between the two.

Fabia felt like time had frozen and her legs slowly came to a stop and saw that Ren had slowed down as well. However, the game was still moving as the rest of the Gundalians and Brawlers ran towards the two and in an instant, Fabia was on the floor.

"Argh!" she cried as she tripped on someone's foot. She felt pain throughout her stomach and realized that when she tripped, the ball had bounced straight into her gut. Hard.

"FABIA!" cried Dan as he ran towards his teammate.

But Ren was faster. "Are you okay?" he asked, offering his hand.

"I-I'm fine…t-thanks," said Fabia reaching for his hand has he pulled her up. This was another lie, one the Brawlers didn't fall for as Fabia went down on one knee.

"Fabia, go sit down," ordered Dan.

"NO! I CAN DO THIS-"

"Fabia!" called Coach Kuso from the sidelines. "As your coach, I order you to come sit down, _now_."

Growling, Fabia stood up and Alice helped her reach Coach Kuso.

"Chan-Lee, sub for Fabia," said Coach Kuso as Chan nodded and ran towards the court.

"Are you all right? Anything you need?" asked Coach Kuso, concerned.

"Just…just water, thanks."

"Rest here, and then maybe I'll let you back in after this quarter," said Coach Kuso, handing Fabia her bottle of water.

Fabia merely nodded and took a sip.

But Coach Kuso didn't let Fabia play again, which was just fine with her. She wouldn't be of much use to the team anyway, and it would save her from embarrassing herself in front of her teammates, or worse, Ren.

Ren Krawler…well Fabia knew she was never interested in any of the guys around school, but it never occurred to her that she'd be interested in Ren. Yes, interested. Not _in love. _Fabia didn't believe in love at first sight or fairy tales. She didn't believe in happy endings, not anymore. Jin's death had changed her views on almost everything. _Ren's just another opponent, _thought Fabia, trying to reason with herself. _It wouldn't work out anyways…_

"Hey, Fabia, can you hand me that bottle of water?" asked Billy.

"Huh? Oh, sure," said Fabia, snapping out of her thoughts and giving Billy the bottle. Fabia had been so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the game end.

"What's the score?" she asked, but Shun merely pointed at the score board.

Fabia turned her head to read: Gundalians-102 Brawlers-0.

Fabia grimaced. She had expected this though…after all, the Gundalians have been undefeated for two years in a row.

"Fabia?" asked a voice.

Fabia turned towards the direction of the voice to see Alice, standing at the door. "Are you coming?"

"Oh, right, yeah, I'm coming," said Fabia as she stood up, grabbed her water bottle, and started to follow Alice.

But just as she was about to exit the gym, she picked up a conversation between the Gundalians.

"You're a bit off your game today, Ren," sneered one of the big guys on the team.

"Lay off, Sid," growled Ren.

"One who plays the leading role should never forget his lines," said another male.

"Shut up, Jesse. And quit talking like that! This is a basketball game, not a play."

"I bet it's 'cause of that girl, isn't it?" asked another member, a female this time.

Fabia's eyes widened.

"That's none of your business, Zenet," replied Ren.

"Don't think we didn't see that…that thing…during the game!" exclaimed Zenet.

"What thing?"

"You. Stopped. Running. What the hell? I mean, you're the fastest person on this team! And I saw that eye-to-eye contact with that girl from the Brawlers. What's her name? I'd like to take her down a peg or two."

Fabia muffled herself so the team couldn't hear her gasp.

"Like I said before," said Ren, growling. "This is none of your business."

"It is mine, if the captain of the team is losing focus," said Coach Barodius, walking towards the group. "A girl from the other team, you say? Tsk, tsk, we can't have that on this team. Get her out of your head, Ren. Don't you want the Gundalians to be undefeated?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then we'll say no more here," interrupted Coach Barodius. "All right team, move out!"

As the team started towards the exit, Sid stopped Ren by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Remember Ren, she's the enemy."

"Right," said Ren as Sid disappeared. "She's just another stupid Brawler."

Fabia bit her lip. She was _not_ going to cry again. _Don't be stupid, Fabia…you said so yourself, Ren's another opponent, another Gundalian. Heck, that's even what Ren said. Then…why do I still feel some sort of ache in my chest? _Fabia asked herself.

"FABIA! YOU COMING OR WHAT?" yelled Dan from outside.

Fabia sighed. Today, her name was getting yelled at from left to right.

"Coming!" she called back, as she exited the gym.

**Please review! **


	25. Introductions

**Thank you for reviewing: JazzGirl123, Shining Sunrise, Jackie Chan Adventures fan 16, AquosBrawlerStar, RunoandAkizafan, AlicexShunMEGAFan17, MarshmellowsSleeping, katzike123, Starksymd, SilverSea1499, and shadowwing1994. **

**Reply to Starksymd (anonymous): Most likely but I added a lot in the beginning, so I'm trying to focus more on other pairings right now like RenxFabia and JoexChan-Lee. There've been hints about JoexChan-Lee before, but I'm planning on something bigger for them. I said earlier there would be hints on JuliexBilly and AcexMira so there's not much about them, but there are hints throughout the entire story. Ace and Mira haven't appeared yet but will soon…**

**Enjoy.**

_Friday, during lunch…_

"Whew!" exclaimed Dan, plopping down at their usual table. "That was a close game." The Brawlers had had their second semi-final game on Thursday against Team Sellon.

"Why, what happened?" asked Marucho.

"Did you lose?" asked Julie.

"What was the score?" asked Jake.

"We won...by two points!" answered Dan. "Score was 42 to 40."

"Sweet," said Jake, grinning.

"Hey, do you guys wanna go practice at the park later this weekend?" asked Joe.

"Why can't we do it at your house like last time?" asked Dan.

"My sister's band is coming over and using the basement for practice. If you haven't noticed, my basketball court is parked right in front of the garage. They play pretty loud and that might disrupt our practice." **Yeah, I made the sister part up…**

"You have a sister?" asked Alice. "What's her name?"

"Her name's Jennifer, but everyone calls her Jen."

"HAHA, Joe and Jen! I get it!" laughed Billy as Joe merely rolled his eyes yet smiled in amusement at the same time.

"Does she go to our school?" asked Jake.

"You would want to know, Jake," teased Dan.

Joe cleared his throat. "No, she got accepted into a school named Anubias."

"Wow, that's a really tough school to get into!" said Marucho in awe.

"Why?" asked Runo.

"You need to take a test to get in," explained Marucho. "They don't base it off on how high you score on the test. They compare your results to the other tests and if you're in the top, you're accepted. She must be really smart."

"Well, she was sort of on the borderline of passing and failing," said Joe. "She barely made it in. Jen didn't really want to go to Anubias in the first place because she heard the school was stressful and she just wanted to relax. But now she's glad she did because if she didn't, she would have ever met her new friends and her members of her band. She's graduating this year."

"You never told us you had a sister before," said Shun.

"Chan knows."

"Only 'cause she's your girlfriend," said Julie, smirking.

"Ehem, so are we practicing at the park or not?" asked Chan, changing the subject to avoid embarrassment.

"Sure, I'm free," said Fabia as everyone – except for Julie, Marucho, and Jake- nodded their heads.

"We have our own weekend practices to attend to," explained Julie, "or studying, in Marucho's case."

"That's all right, you need your practice too," said Joe. "So Brawlers, park tomorrow, three o' clock?"

"YEAH!" cried the Brawlers.

_Satuday, the park, at three…_

"Over here, Dan!" cried Billy as Dan ran around the court.

Dan was about to pass the ball, until Runo appeared out of nowhere and blocked him.

"Dan! OVER HERE!" exclaimed Billy.

"Just…just give me a minute!" exclaimed Dan as he tried to shake off Runo. But Runo was best at defense and she was aggressive and competitive. No way would she let the ball out of her sight.

Runo reached for the ball but Dan moved towards the opposite direction out of her reach. Unfortunately, his foot caught hers and both were on the floor in a blink of an eye.

The couple laughed at their situation and before long, Dan stood up and helped up Runo.

Shun smiled at the two. He wished he could be lucky as Dan to find someone. Of course, he wished that "someone" was Alice. Speaking of Alice, she was the only member that hadn't arrived. She said she would be a bit late since she had to help her grandfather with something in the laboratory.

"Oy, Mister Hot-Shot!" called Dan as he tossed the ball towards Shun. "Your turn!"

"Quit calling me that," replied Shun as he caught the ball.

"Mr. Hot-Shot? Really? Huh, wasn't so hot during our last game, was he?" asked a voice followed by a high-shrilled laughter.

The Brawlers whirled around to find none other than their rivals, the Gundalians.

"Hello to you too," said Shun, narrowing his eyes.

"What do you want?" demanded Dan.

"What do you think, pipsqueak?" asked Sid.

"Cool it, we're not here to cause trouble," warned Ren. Fabia's stomach lurched when she saw him.

"You still didn't answer him," said Runo.

"To practice, duh," answered Zenet.

Jesse nodded. "We should always rehearse before the big play."

The Brawlers stared.

"Yeah…you'll have to excuse him," said Ren, turning back around to whisper menacingly to Jesse. "I _told _you to stop talking like that!"

"Well, if you're here to practice, you might as well find some other place," said Billy. "We were here first."

"Yes, but this has always been our practice place," said a blue-haired girl as she adjusted her glasses.

"Lena's right," said another girl, the one with the high shrill laugh. "And we're not giving it up to you losers."

"Hey!" exclaimed Dan. "No one calls my friends-"

"What's your name?" interrupted Ren.

"Wait, what?" asked Dan.

"What's…your…name…" repeated Ren, talking slowly as if Dan were a two-year old.

"Dan Kuso, captain of the Basketball Brawlers!"

Ren was not impressed. "What about everyone else on the team?"

"Wouldn't you want to know?"

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!"

"Shun, Billy, Runo, Joe, Chan-Lee, and Fabia."

_Fabia…_thought Ren to himself. _So that's her name. _She was the real reason why he had asked Dan to introduce his teammates.

"Hey, I remember you!" exclaimed a boy with jet-black hair, pointing to Joe. "You were on the team last year!"

"Yeah…I remember you too, Mason," replied Joe, folding his arms.

"You know their names?" asked Chan.

"Sure," answered Joe. "Well…you already know Ren…but the rest are Kazarina, the girl with that laugh from earlier, Sid, Zenet, Jesse, Lena, Mason, Stoica, Gill, and Airzel. **A/N: Nurzak is the only Gundalian who isn't here, with the exception of Barodius since he's the coach. But I'll have a role for Nurzak later on.**

"Where's that girl with the orange hair?" asked Ren. Fabia's face fell. Alice was always the beautiful one, the one all the guys wanted.

"Why are _you _so interested?" asked Shun, getting defensive as he clutched his fists.

"What, you got a soft spot for her, Mr. _Hot-Shot?_" asked Ren, mocking Dan's nickname for Shun. "Don't worry; she's not my type anyway." Fabia lightened up a little.

"Hey, guys!" exclaimed a voice from behind the Gundalians.

Everyone turned around to see Alice waving her hand and running towards them.

"Found her," smirked Sid.

"Wha…what's going on?" asked Alice when she saw the Gundalians.

"Just introducing ourselves," said Dan as Alice walked over to the Brawlers' side.

"…Really?" asked Alice when she saw Dan's look of hatred.

"You're wasting our time," said Ren. "We need to practice."

"Well, like Billy said, we were here first!" shouted Dan.

"And like Lena said, this has always been our court!" Ren yelled back.

"I don't see your name written on it!"

The Brawlers and the Gundalians looked back and forth between the captains as they continued to argue with each other.

Finally, Joe stepped in. "ENOUGH!" he cried, pushing the two away from each other.

Ren and Dan glared at each other until Ren recomposed himself and stood up straight. "Gundalians, let's go." Ren turned around and started walking away from the Brawlers.

"Eh?" asked Zenet as Ren walked past her. "But what about-"

"I know another park to practice at," interrupted Ren. "It's a bit further, but it's better than wasting time with these punks."

Zenet hesitated then, before following her team, she turned around to the Brawlers and said, "I doubt you'll win the semi-finals, but if you ever make it to the finals, although that's very unlikely, don't except to win."

The Brawlers watched as she ran to catch up with her team and disappeared from the park.

"Well…let's continue practice," said Joe as he took the ball from Shun's hands and made a jump-shot.

"You okay, Fabia?" asked Dan. "You haven't said a thing."

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Fabia. "Let's practice."

**Please review! **


	26. Unexpected

**Hey guys, I'm back! It's been…a while, so sorry about that. Yes, I've been busy with school and sports (coincidentally, basketball) but I'll admit I have been a bit lazy to continue this story. But now that I stopped procrastinating, this story is officially continued. **

**Thanks to: Alana Fox, RunoandAkizafan, flippy17, AquosBrawlerStar, lily321, JazzGirl123, katzike123, MarshmellowsSleeping, Starksymd, AlicexShunMEGAFan17, SilverWolf1499, shadowwing1994, Broken-Hearted Demon, darkfire67, sakurayamayo1, YayForEveryCoupleILoveAndMore, Icewings13, and ilovecartoonslol for reviewing. **

**And an apology to those who've sent me PMs but who I haven't replied back to. **

**I know I probably let a lot of you guys down by not updating for so freaking long and if you lost interest in this story, I don't really blame you. For those of you who stuck with me, I really appreciate it and am grateful. Also, I know that I've read and reviewed a couple of your stories as well and I probably stopped due to my work. If that's the case and you'd like me to review your story (be it someone I've already given a review to or someone new) don't hesitate to ask. **

**Note: I sort of screwed up how the rounds of basketballs went. I guess I got a bit confused with the team names and such so the round robin probably didn't make sense in the beginning. I can't really explain what went wrong because I'm still pretty confused myself, but I will explain how the ones from this point on will work. I know this may be a bit confusing and you may have questions such as "how the heck are the Neathians back" but please just accept the fact that they're in the semi-final.**

**Basically, the Brawlers need to play the Neathians for the last round. The winner of this game will get to play the Gundalians in the championships. I have a feeling this isn't the correct way of having a round robin (if it is, yay!) but since I screwed it up from the beginning I'm just going to stick with this. Again, sorry for the confusion.**

**I realized that after writing this chapter, I probably should've added it to the previous chapter because this is way too short. Apologies, I really need to work on making my chapters longer. The next one should DEFINITELY be longer than this, however. And I'll try my best to get the next chapter up as soon as possible to make up for this short chapter (but the next chapter should definitely be up in less than a week). **

**Sorry for any mistakes/errors.**

**Enjoy!**

_Later that day in Ren's home…_

Ren groaned as he shut the front door behind him after walking into his house. To the average person, the Gundalian's practice at the park went extremely well, but for Ren, he was off his game. With Fabia to distract his mind, there really wasn't much room for any basketball strategies.

"Ren, are you home?" asked a voice. "Please come into the kitchen."

Hesitating a bit, Ren slowly walked into the kitchen to see Nurzak boiling a pot of soup. "Hi, Dad."

"Hey, Ren," said Nurzak, looking up and smiling. "I made your favorite dinner."

_Now _Ren was suspicious. "It's not my birthday."

"I know," replied Nurzak.

"Did I win something?"

"No."

"What's the special occasion?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about. Have a seat." Ren obeyed as Nurzak took sat beside him.

"Ren…" started Nurzak. "I really don't know how to tell you this but…"

"It's bad news, isn't it?" asked Ren, always sharp.

"We're moving."

Ren shot up like a rocket, knocking the chair aside. "We're WHAT?"

Nurzak sighed. "We're moving. I got laid off. I lost my job, Ren."

"When was this?"

"…A while ago…"

"Is that why you've been at home a lot lately?"

"Yes. But, I have been looking for jobs and setting up interviews. Fortunately I found one in the last few days, but in order to do this job, we will have to move out of Bayville, meaning you will have to switch school as well."

"Why…why didn't you tell me?"

Nurzak let out another sigh. "I wanted to Ren but you always looked so happy with your friends at school and basketball I didn't want to burden you with my troubles. But I guess, I can't protect you forever."

Angered, Ren kicked his chair. "Argh, WHY DAD? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER? IF YOU DID, I DON'T KNOW, WE COULD'VE WORKED SOMETHING OUT! I COULD'VE PLANNED FOR THIS!"

"What are you talking about Ren? What do you need to plan out?"

"MY BASKETBALL SEASON! THIS WOULD'VE BEEN OUR THIRD CHAMPION WIN IN A ROW, BUT WITH THE CAPTAIN MISSING, HOW WILL THE TEAM FUNCTION? I MEAN YEAH, THEY CAN FUNCTION FINE, BUT I'LL NEED TO TELL COACH ABOUT ME MOVING AND…AND..ARGH, IT'S JUST GOING TO BE A BIG MESS!"

"Ren…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry. I know what I did was wrong but…what's done is done. Forgive me."

Ignoring his father, Ren gave his chair another kick and stomped towards the stairs. But before he started to climb, he paused and turn around. "I'm still angry, but out of curiosity, what's the name of the school I'm going to attend?"

"Vestal Academy," replied Nurzak.

"Do they have a basketball team?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" exclaimed Nurzak. "In fact, I even think I know their team name! What was it…uh…Basketball Ballers…no…oh yes, Basketball Brawlers!"

**Please review! **


	27. A New Student, a Different Day

**Wow…hiatus for over a year and my story is still receiving hits, reviews, and PMs. You have no idea how much this means to me and how grateful I am. That has definitely encouraged me to continue and finish this story as soon as I can. **

**Sorry I can't mention the pennames in this chapter because I'm a bit confused as to who did what, but I'd like to thank all those who've read and reviewed the last chapter. And apologizes if I did miss your name last chapter. **

**Just a couple of notes before I continue: **

**Now that I'm in high school basketball, I have a better feeling and understanding of the sport so I can hopefully make my descriptions more detailed. Before I was merely playing street basketball and just knew a few of the rules. **

**I also learned that the scoreboard doesn't really go to 102 like in the Gundalian's game. It only goes to the double-digits. And speaking of the Gundalian's game, I should've made it more realistic and allowed the Brawlers to score a few points. I'll try to work on being more realistic and to keep an eye out for factual errors throughout the story.**

**Enjoy! **

_Saturday…_

"Watch the screen!" cried Shun as Fabia ran up next to Runo and planted her feet firmly to the ground with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Joe, who was dribbling the ball, ran past Fabia, using her body as a shield when Runo tried to chase after him.

"Switch!" Runo cried as Shun took over defending Joe while Runo took on Fabia. Unfortunately, Joe did a quick crossover dribble, squared himself up to the basket, and scored two points for his team.

"Nice one," said Dan as he and Joe high-fived.

The Brawlers were at Joe's place again since Jen's band had cancelled their practice. After their huge loss against the Gundalians, the Brawlers wanted to practice every minute they could.

"Hey, has anyone seen Julie?" asked Billy. "She said she would come over for a bit."

The rest of the team shrugged, but Shun merely pointed towards the street with his hawk eyes. "She's on her way."

And sure enough, she was. Heaving and panting, she ran up to the Brawlers with her usual cheery mood. "Sorry guys! I totally forgot about cheer practice, but now that it's done and over with, I have exciting news!"

"What's up?" asked Joe, twirling the ball on his index finger.

"We're getting a new student starting Monday!" Julie squealed.

"Is it a girl or a boy?" asked Chan.

"It's a guy. Karla told me after practice."

"How'd she know?" asked Alice.

Julie shrugs. "Who knows? I think her parents are involved with the district or something, but anyway, I hope he's cute!"

Billy cleared his throat to remind Julie that she still had a boyfriend.

"Oh don't worry, no one can be as cute as you," said Julie, pecking him on the cheek. Billy grinned.

"Okay, since it looks like we're already on a break, grab water before we continue," ordered Dan.

"Oh, sorry for interrupting your practice," said Julie.

"Don't sweat it," replied Dan, giving her his signature thumbs up.

~Basketball Brawlers~

_Monday…_

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

A loud scream rang through the hallways of Vestal Academy. Students walking towards school either plugged their ears or ran inside to see what was wrong. As the double doors opened, a peculiar scene awaited.

"YOU'RE the new kid?" Dan demanded, pointing a finger at the new student.

"Got a problem with that?" asked Ren with his arms folded. "I didn't ask for this okay? I'm about as happy as this as you are."

"Gah, WORST MONDAY EVER!"

"Tch, still annoying as always." Ren walked right past Dan and headed towards the office.

"Hey, get back here! I'm not through with you yet!" Ren ignored him and walked inside the room.

"Okay, show's over, move along people!" exclaimed Runo as she walked up to Dan with Shun and Marucho. Runo, for once, didn't call her boyfriend an idiot and let the other guys to all the talking.

"That was unnecessary," said Shun.

"I can understand why you're upset but there was no need to blow up like that," added Marucho.

Dan was still seething. "The bell's gonna ring soon," he mumbled as he walked off towards his classroom.

_Huh, I wonder if Fabia knows…_thought Runo.

~Basketball Brawlers~

Fabia was busily starting her third paragraph of her timed writing when the door opened. She didn't want to risk losing her train of thought by looking up, but she couldn't resist when other students gasped. Fabia's mouth dropped slightly as Ren walked through the door and handed a note to the teacher. She watched the two converse for a few moments until the Mrs. Heather pointed to a seat in the corner for Ren to take. Ren nodded and walked through the aisle. As he passed Fabia, he lingered for a moment as their eyes met. Fabia suddenly remembered she only had seven minutes left to finish her essay and immediately looked back down on her paper to continue writing.

"Time's up!" called Mrs. Heather. "Please pass up your essays."

Fabia sighed with relief of that fact that she finished just in time. After passing up her paper, she made eye contact with Alice and Julie and jerked her head near the corner where Ren was sitting.

Alice gave an apologetic smile while Julie merely grimaced and played nervously with her hair.

~Basketball Brawlers~

"All right kids, we're going to play basketball for the next unit!" exclaimed the P.E. teacher, Mr. Cook.

Everyone groaned for Joe was in this period and it was obvious that he was the best in the class.

Mr. Cook laughed, unaware of the situation. "C'mon, we're supposed to have fun in this class! Let's change our attitude people. Now, I want all of you to pay attention because I'm going to read out the teams and I'm only going to say it once. If you go into the incorrect team, you will be running." The class nodded as Mr. Cook read aloud from this clipboard, making sure to put Joe, Billy and Chan, who were also in the same period, on different teams.

"Okay, on court four we will have Chan's team against Jake's team. On court three we will have Billy's team against-oh hello, a little late are we?" Mr. Cook stopped reading aloud to address a student walking towards him.

"Sorry," replied Ren as he handed Mr. Cook a note. "I'm new so I got lost."

The class exchanged glances while Chan, Jake, Billy, and Joe gave each other wide eyes.

"That's all right, I'll let it go for today. But I need to put you on a team. Let's see…you can be on Victoria's team. You guys will be against Joe's team on court one."

The entire class except for Joe gasped. Joe and Ren made eye contact as if to take this as a personal challenge, even though it was just a P.E. class.

"I have a feeling this won't turn out well," said Chan to Jake and Billy.

"We can't worry about it now," said Jake, putting a strong arm on her shoulder. "Let's head to our court."

"Besides, it's just P.E.," reasoned Billy. "They shouldn't be treating this game like it's the championships or something."

Chan nodded and got into position on her court. But during her game, she couldn't resist looking back towards court one to see how things were going.

Joe was running towards the basket, getting ready for a layup. But just as he was about to tip the ball in the basket, Ren's hand came out of who-knows-where and BAM! The ball knocked out of Joe's hands and into Ren's who quickly passed to a teammate.

Growling quietly, Joe ran after him to make up for his loss.

"CHAN!"

Whoosh! The ball went past Chan's head, missing it by inches. "Sorry!" she exclaimed as she ran after it. But in her mind, she was just glad it wasn't a real game.

"Whoa, look at that!" exclaimed Jake, pointing to court one.

Chan forgot about the ball and whipped around to see the game. Joe and Ren were at half court, with Joe dribbling the ball and Ren trying to guard him. The two were so focused and were playing so intently that even their own teams stepped off the court to watch, not that it mattered to them. Eventually, all the other teams in the class crowded around court one to watch the one-on-one play. Even Mr. Cook thought it would be interesting to watch.

Joe finally shook off Ren and did a fast-break towards the basket but unfortunately, missed the layup. Ren grabbed the re-bound and dribbled towards his basket. But Joe was not about to have Ren show him up in front of his girlfriend. With a quick glance at Chan, Joe raced past Ren and planted his feet in front of him. In surprise and desperation, Ren shot the ball. Joe grabbed the re-bound and set off to his basket.

It went on like that for about another two minutes. Each side missed their shots and it was obvious that the two were getting both tired and frustrated. Never before had a simple P.E. game been so intense.

"I spoke too soon," whispered Billy to Chan and Jake.

Finally, Ren made a three-pointer and slumped down onto the ground, breathing heavily. Joe did the same while Chan ran after the ball. Few people from the crowd clapped, out of politeness. The only person who sincerely clapped was Mr. Cook.

"That was brilliant, Ren!" exclaimed Mr. Cook. "Say, have you ever considered joining the basketball team?"

Those were not the words Ren needed to hear right now. He glared at Mr. Cook.

"Right," mumbled Billy. "Mr. Cook's a new teacher. He doesn't know about the Gundalians."

But Mr. Cook wasn't bothered by Ren's glare. "I'll put in a recommendation for the basketball coach!"

"The season is already coming to a close," said Joe as Jake helped him up.

"Oh, there must be an exception for him!" There was no way Mr. Cook would change his mind. "I'll send something to the coach right now!"

The bell rang as Joe sighed and shook his head. He glanced at Ren who was already walking towards the boy locker rooms.

"Relax, Joe," said Chan. "It's like you said. There's no way Ren can join our team, not with the season already undergoing."

"Yeah…" said Joe. _She's right…_he thought. _That should be against the rules. Then why am I feeling so anxious? _


	28. Change for the Worst?

**Thanks to the following for reviewing: Hungryhippo1000, Alana Fox, SilverWolf1499, JazzGirl123, taymontu, jazzmonkey, and SheepRainbow.**

_During lunch that same day…_

As Fabia walked down the aisles with her tray in her hand, she noticed Ren eating all by himself in the corner by the trashcans. She hesitated, considering her options: sit with Ren or go with the usual gang. But before she could make up her mind, a voice called out that decided for her.

"Fabia, over here!" cried Julie, waving her hand.

Fabia shrugged and walked to her group of friends, setting down her tray. The tension between the teens seemed tense today, well, more tense than usual.

"Everyone okay?" asked Fabia, unwrapping her sandwich.

"Okay? Try utter embarrassment," muttered Joe.

"What happened?"

"He and Ren played a one-on-one basketball game during P.E. today," explained Chan, putting a hand on Joe's shoulder.

"And?"

"And I lost," finished Joe.

"Well it's just P.E.; it's not like it's the championships or anything, right?" asked Fabia.

"That's what I said," said Billy.

"Well yeah, I would've been fine if it weren't for that fact that stupid Mr. Cook is going to send a request for him to join our basketball team!" The gang stared at Joe in surprise. It was unusual for him to insult a teacher like that. He was having a very bad day indeed.

Dan wasn't any better. He tried to contain his anger as he spoke. "It's bad enough that Ren has to attend our school, but playing on our team? That guy's just going to ruin it for us."

"Hey, that may not be true," said Alice. "We played his team before and we've seen him play. We know he's not an amateur. He was their team captain as well, wasn't he?"

"Was," corrected Shun.

"But the season's already underway," reasoned Runo. "There's no way they'd let him play with us."

"That what we thought during P.E. too," said Jake. "But I saw Mr. Cook talking to the sports administrator. And from the way he was smiling, I'd say Mr. Cook got what he wanted."

"Damn," muttered Dan.

"Hey, where'd Fabia go?" asked Julie.

The Brawlers looked around at their table. The blue-haired girl was nowhere in sight.

"Hey guys, look!" exclaimed Runo, pointing at Ren's table.

Jaws dropped and eyes widened as the gang witnessed Fabia walk calmly over to Ren's table and sat down, directly in front of him.

~Basketball Brawlers~

Ren looked up from his tray when he heard someone sat down.

"Hi," said the blue-haired girl as she set down her tray.

"Hey…Fabia, right?" asked Ren as his eyebrows rose.

Fabia nodded.

"What do you want?" asked Ren using a rougher tone than he had intended to.

"If you didn't want someone to sit with you, you could've just said so," snapped Fabia as she started to get up.

"Wait." Ren grabbed her arm. Fabia caught a blush creeping up her cheeks but stopped it immediately. "Sorry…I…uhm…have a seat."

Fabia sat back down and waited.

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just that…everyone's been treating me like I'm some sort of enemy from the other side. You're the first to actually greet me like a normal person."

Fabia shrugged. "Almost everyone here knows about you and the Gundalians beating our team in the championships."

"And that's a legit reason to get angry at me?"

"Well normally no, but there have been rumors that your team…cheats…"

"Oh…" replied Ren. "I see."

"Well…do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Does your team cheat?"

"No," answered Ren a little too quickly. Fabia decided to let it go.

"But I guess their reasoning is a bit irrational," said Fabia. "Sorry about that."

Ren shrugged. "It's not your fault; you shouldn't be apologizing."

The two were silent for a few minutes. Fabia took the opportunity to eat her sandwich to avoid any awkward moments.

"Hey, I have a question," said Ren.

"I'm listening."

"I'm not trying to make you leave or anything, but I'm just curious. Why did you decide to sit with me?"

"I guess…I just felt like talking to you," replied Fabia. "That's all."

Ren smiled a rare smile.

"Now I have a question for you," said Fabia. "Why do you sometimes act a like a jerk?"

Ren's smile disappeared. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound harsh but you seem different somehow right now. When we first introduced ourselves at the park, you and Dan had a row with each other and again this morning. And I heard during P.E. you had one with Joe." Fabia didn't dare mention that she also overheard him talking in his rough tone towards his old team.

"Tch, that's for me to know and you to find out," said Ren, turning the other way.

"Then I guess there's no point in me sitting here anymore," replied Fabia as she grabbed her tray, stood up, and walked away.

Ren sighed. Girls…

~Basketball Brawlers~

_During practice that same day…_

"Why did you talk to Ren during lunch today?" Runo asked Fabia, privately.

Fabia shrugged. "I just felt like it…"

Runo sighed. "Look, Fabia, I saw the way you looked at him when we played against the Gundalians and before I was really excited to see you interested in a guy for once. But now…I mean…you've seen how Ren acts, right? Do you really want a guy like that?"

Fabia ignored her. Of course she didn't want a guy like that but she believed that Ren was so much more than that. But she didn't dare voice her opinion. She knew Runo was persistent.

"Coach Kuso's late," said Joe, kicking a pebble across the pavement, interrupting the girls' conversation.

"I wonder why," muttered Billy, sarcastically.

Suddenly the door of the gym opened and the team looked up to see their coach smiling and waving his clipboard in the air.

"Why the long faces?" asked Coach Kuso. "Something happened at school today?"

"It's nothing, Dad," replied Dan.

"Well, whatever it is, I hope you'll change your frowns upside down when you hear that Ren, the new kid, is going to join our basketball team starting tomorrow!"

Needless to say, no one on the team smiled once during the day's practice.

**Ok, to be honest, I'm not sure if letting Ren join the team is technically allowed in the real world. I have a feeling it isn't, but the fact that he was on the team in a different school and the fact that he had no choice but to move could be debated. But I guess it also depends on who's in charge of the sports program and in this story, Mr. Cook had a conversation with the administrator. Well, even if it isn't allowed, I hope I was realistic enough. **


	29. Ren's Story

**Hey all, terribly sorry for not updating for about a month. I do have legit reasons though (but they're personal). Anyway, hopefully it won't happen again and thanks for being patient. **

**Someone noted that I had left out the Bakugan for a while, something that's sure to be fixed in later chapters. There will not be any brawling, but the Bakugan will be included somehow. **

**Few people have also noted that it has been lacking romance, something I'm also going to try to fix. Though as of right now, I'm focusing mainly on FabiaxRen but I'm going to try to focus on ShunxAlice and DanxRuno as well. I have something planned for JoexChan-Lee later on in the story as well as AcexMira (even though they haven't come into the story yet). As for JuliexBilly, there will just be some hints here and there. **

**Thanks to the following for reviewing: JazzGirl123, Hungryhippo 1000, SheepRainbow, SilverWolf1499, Alana Fox, Tear Droplet, jazzmonkey, sakurayamayo1, jenny tiges, and Crazy Cool Kid. **

**Enjoy.**

"You were supposed to set a screen!" shouted Dan.

"I happened to be dribbling the ball, thank you very much," snapped Ren.

"Well, you're not the point guard! Weren't you supposed to pass it to Joe?"

"In a perfect world, yeah! But if you didn't notice, he was guarded and if I did that would've been a turnover! And let me guess: you'd STILL have yelled at me no matter what!"

TWEET! "Boys, boys! Enough!" Coach Kuso cried as he walked over to the squabbling couple. "This isn't team work. This is just playing the blame game."

"But he-" started Ren and Dan, both pointing a finger at each other.

TWEET! Coach's whistle blew again. "I'll have none of that on this team. If you've still got some in you I suggest you leave the team for the rest of the season. Now, are there any more problems?"

Ren and Dan shook their heads.

"Good," said Coach as he blew his whistle for the third time. "Grab water!"

"Damn that Gundalian," muttered Dan as he grabbed his bottle from his bag. Fabia looked to her right and saw that Ren had placed his sports bag to the far right of the Brawlers, a somewhat indication of him saying "I may be playing with the team, but I am not part of it".

"No offense Dan, but Ren was correct; it would've been a turnover if he had passed to Joe," said Shun.

_He wouldn't have yelled so much if Ren had been someone else, _thought Fabia.

TWEET! "All right team, back on the court. And if I hear anymore squabbling nonsense, you'll be benched for the next game."

Sure enough, throughout the rest of practice, Dan and Ren kept their mouths shut though there were definite glares in each of their expressions. Nevertheless, it was enough for Coach Kuso and he dismissed them without a lecture.

As the Brawlers walked back to the locker rooms to change, Fabia noticed Ren speed-walking ahead. His intention was to be the first in the locker room and the quickest to change to avoid the Brawlers.

Fabia glanced at Dan then back at Ren. Dan didn't seem bothered the slightest; he was immersed in a Bakugan conversation with the rest of the team. Ren, on the other hand, had no one. Fabia couldn't help but think how lonely Ren looked, even though his face refused to show it. She knew there was something hiding behind that mask of pride and she was determined to find out.

~Basketball Brawlers~

_Tuesday, during lunch…_

After paying for her lunch at the cafeteria, Fabia walked right past the usual Brawlers' table, ignoring the looks her friends gave her as she plopped down at Ren's table. Ren raised his eyesbrows but didn't object.

Fabia didn't wait to get straight to the point. "I want to know."

"Know what?" asked Ren, as he unwrapped his sandwich.

"Why you act…the way you've been acting."

"Didn't I tell you before that-"

"That's for you to know and me to find out? Yeah, I didn't forget. You're hiding something, Ren. I know you keep up a determined and strong face, but it's just for show. You're lonely, aren't you? You told me to find out, so here I am."

Fabia didn't mean to sound blunt; it just came out of her mouth, though she didn't regret a single word she said. Ren glared at her for a few minutes, deciding whether or not he should simply leave the table and the conversation altogether, but his mind went over what Fabia just said. Well, she was the only one so far who was able to determine that he was merely putting up a show for his fellow Brawlers, that he could take anything thrown at him. He had to give her props for that one.

"Fine," sighed Ren. "Well, I'm obviously not happy here and it's not because it's a new school. It's because I seem like a jerk when it's everyone else who's treating me unfairly but are they called for it? Hell, no. It's always me; I'm always blamed for everything. That's why I don't bother anymore. The first day I came here, I actually tried making friends (except for Dan of course who made it clear that I was not in his range that day). But everyone treated me the same as Dan did. So I gave up. I don't know what made me think that this school would be an exception but I thought there was no harm in trying. But that doesn't make disappointment easier to handle."

"So I acted unfairly to you?"

Ren paused. He had almost forgotten the kindness (sorta) that Fabia and shown him the other day. Sure she may have thrown a few blunt sentences at him towards the end, but she sat with him and treated him like a normal human being.

"No, you didn't," Ren replied, looking down at his uneaten sandwich.

"All of what you described," started Fabia, "this school isn't the only place that that has happened, right?"

Ren almost smiled. This girl was sharp. "Correct. My dad, he…he's lost quite a bit of jobs in his lifetime and my mom leaving him to take care of me isn't helping him to cope. He's got to drag me around everywhere he goes so I've been switching from school to school. We're not poor, mind you. We have enough. But for some reason, something always goes wrong at my new schools and of course, the new kid is always blamed. I had been a shy person before so it wasn't hard to nail me down. And being shy, I wasn't one to fight back so I went along with all the punishments handed out to me."

Ren paused to finally take a bite of his lunch. Fabia stared, wondering how the boy sitting in front of her could've been shy. It just didn't seem to suit his character.

"After I had figured out that my personality had been the root of all my problems," continued Ren, "I started to change that. I developed a strong and prideful face to show off to my new schools that I was not one to mess with. I couldn't help being a jerk after that. I was so concentrated on changing that I didn't realize how much it changed me. But to be honest, I don't exactly regret changing. Yeah, I made friends with the wrong people such as the Gundalians, but I was no longer the kid to put the blame on. That was one change I could live it. Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah," answered Fabia. It was obvious why he was a yeller, especially to Dan and to the rest of the school but it also cleared up why he would sometimes argue with his old basketball teammates. "It wasn't fair of those kids at the previous schools to blame you, but why didn't you fight back?"

"I was scared," answered Ren, hating to admit that fact. "I'm not very strong physically and I knew that even if I had told my teachers the truth, I'd get beaten to a pulp. I was scared at my other schools as well, but I was hopeful that my prideful face would do the trick and it did."

"Are you scared now?"

Ren looked away. "Yeah…but either way I lose, don't I? If I show my true personality, I'd probably get beat up. But if I don't, everyone has a low opinion of me and I'd be left alone."

Fabia pondered for a moment before speaking. "Ren, if you could show the world that people shouldn't treat you like that but still be able to attract friends, would you like that?"

"Definitely. But it's too late, isn't it?"

For the first time during their meeting, Fabia smiled. "It's never too late. All you need to do is fight back."

"But I told you before, I'm-"

"Scared, I know. And you know that's the thing that's holding you back but you have to get past it. Getting past it doesn't mean you get rid of it. It means facing it. You have to face your fears if you want to become strong. And when I say fight back, I don't always necessarily mean physically. If you know the truth, tell it and mean it. Sure, there'll be kids who wouldn't hesitate to fight you. You'll need to deal with those, but I'll say this: if you mean it, those kids will know that it won't be an easy fight."

Ren sat silently, taking in every word. Fabia smiled and pointed to herself. "And Ren, you won't be alone, at least not at this school. You can always count on me."

Ren smiled as the bell rang. But before Fabia got up to leave, Ren stopped her. "Wait, why are you helping me?"

"Because I know you're not that jerk everyone thinks you to be. You're something so much more."

And with that, Fabia stood up, tossed her lunch, and went straight to class, again avoiding her friends' looks.


	30. Underestimated

**All right, I may have to give up the whole update-once-a-week thing and will probably start updating things biweekly. A thousand apologies to all. But if I do somehow get an opportunity to update once a week, I won't hesitate to take it. **

**Thanks to my reviewers: Crazy Cool Kid, Alana Fox, jazzmonkey, Laura B, JazzGirl123, SheepRainbow, Icewings13, and Hungryhippo 1000.**

**Not sure if there will be romance in the next chapter, but it's definitely coming soon!**

**Enjoy! **

_Saturday at the park…_

"Where are they?" asked Chan. During lunch on Friday, the Brawlers had agreed to have one last practice at the park before their game against the Neathians on Monday. They decided to meet at 2:00 but so far, only the girls have shown up.

"Dan called me and mentioned something about 'getting a bite to eat'" grumbled Runo. "He probably dragged the rest of the boys with him."

"But not Ren," interjected Fabia, quietly. But all the girls heard and turned in her direction. Things have been a bit tense between Fabia and the team ever since she decided to drop in and chit chat with Ren during lunch-twice. After explaining her motives, the girls "forgave" Fabia quickly, although Fabia knew she didn't do anything wrong. Runo took more time to convince but she eventually gave in as well. Billy and Shun were indifferent and merely shrugged it off. Joe, however, did not take it lightly much to the others' surprise. He was usually lenient with everything but considering how Ren had showed him up during P.E., who could blame him?

But none of those reactions compared with Dan's. He didn't speak to Fabia for days, believing Fabia to be a traitor. He was truly convinced that Ren had only transferred to Vestal Academy to learn about the team's strengths and weaknesses and then use it against the Brawlers during the final game. This only confirmed Ren's story of how he was mistreated the very moment he stepped into the building. Rage filled Fabia as she screamed at Dan who was happy to return the favor. Runo and Shun had to separate the two. Since then, neither have said a word to each other except to call out each other's names to pass the ball during practice and even then that was rare.

It was Alice who broke the long silence that ensued after Fabia's comment. "Hey…aren't those the Gundalians?"

Immediately, all four girls turned to see that Alice was correct. There was no mistaking their aura of arrogance and the way they held their chins high.

"Back again, are you?" asked Sid with a grin.

"Don't you mean _you're _back again?" demanded Runo.

"Easy, Runo," whispered Alice.

"Don't you remember?" asked Lena. "This has always been the court we've been practicing on. You guys got lucky once when we left you alone, but that's only because Ren was with us and ordered us to leave."

"But Ren's not here this time," said Mason, smirking. "I am."

"You're the new captain?" asked Chan.

"Heck yeah. And this time, I'm going to claim what's rightfully ours."

Alice resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This was so stupid, battling over a basketball court where there were hundreds more.

"Girls, let's go, let them have it," urged Alice. She did not want to get drawn in a pointless fight.

"No," answered the rest of the girls immediately. Alice sighed and wondered why must all three have a fighting side to them. Chan was a master in martial arts and Fabia exceled in hand-to-hand combat. Though Runo wasn't known to have any training of self-defense, she sure had that fiery temper which was enough to fuel some punches and kicks out of her.

"No?" asked Stoica.

"No," repeated Fabia in a firm voice.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" asked Airzel. The Gundalians took a step closer to the girls who in response took a step back.

"There's nine of us and only four of you," added Kazarina.

"How about a challenge then?" suggested Runo. "A fair one?"

"Oh, Runo," started Alice. "Don't-"

"What kind of challenge?" asked Mason, eyes glinting.

"Bakugan?" asked Jesse.

Chan immediately shook her head. Neither of the girls had brought their Bakugan with them.

"Basketball," said Chan, sticking out her hand. Why the hell not? This was a basketball court they were fighting over anyway.

"Deal," said Mason, shaking Chan's hand.

"Four against four," said Fabia. "Girl's game only."

"We have only three girls," said Lena. "You have four."

"You can count me out," said Alice immediately. She was not going to get involved. Besides, she needed time to think of a plan. She had a nagging feeling something would go wrong. But then again, when have any encounters with the Gundalians turned out well?

"Three on three. Perfect," said Zenet rubbing her hands together.

"No dirty playing," warned Fabia as she got into a defensive stance. Bent knees, hands up.

"What made you think we'd do that?" asked Kazarina a little too innocently.

_A lot of things, _thought Alice as she stepped off the court. Mason bounced the ball to Kazarina who passed it to Fabia who passed it back. Let the games begin.

Kazarina bolted past Fabia, pulling a little spin move to make a lay-up. Luckily Chan was there and luckily she was a high jumper. She smacked down the ball into Runo's hands who took off towards the other court.

Alice heard a snarl within Kazarina and also within Zenet and Lena as they chased after Runo. She's seen Runo growl when she got pissed, but it was never as menacingly as this. Surely, these Gundalians weren't human. They were killing machines, bent on doing anything to win anything; even if it was a mere three-on-three game to decide who got to practice on the court. That in itself was already ridiculous but at least it didn't make Alice's hair stand like it was doing now.

She needed to do something. But she couldn't. Her feet nailed themselves on the cement and all she could do was watch. Watch the Gundalians do they very thing they're best at: playing dirty.

Within minutes, Fabia, Chan, and Runo each received a set of bruises and cuts. Sure the Gundalians were beat up as well, but it was merely a cut or two here and there.

Why? Alice wondered. They weren't this hostile during the last game. Then it hit her. Because the Brawlers played so poorly in that game, it wasn't worth the Gundalians' time to use any amount of effort. But the Brawlers have improved and it certainly showed when Chan smacked away Kazarina's layup. The Gundalians were supposed to the best, undefeated, unwavering. And look, one of the Brawlers, a team with only one experienced player, has just rejected a shot. A shot that was supposed to never miss. Ever.

Alice could only imagine the fury of their opponents. But one thing was certain. She needed to do something before someone got seriously hurt. No one else was in the park. It was her and only her who could call for help. The other girls were too stubborn to do it. _Move, _she commanded her feet.

Faking a need to use the bathroom, Alice hurried over to the girls' stalls and dialed Dan's number. To her relief, he picked up.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Dan.

"Dan! You need to come to the park right now!" cried Alice.

"What? What's wrong?" Dan suddenly became dead serious.

"They're here! The Gundalians are-"

Click. That was all Dan needed. Alice leaned back against the wall, comforted by the fact that Dan and hopefully the others would arrive soon. But how soon? And what state will the other girls be in by the time that comes?

Panicked, Alice glanced back towards the court to meet a horrifying sight. Chan and Runo were on the floor coughing and panting, gasping for breath, desperate for air. Their injuries have only but increased. This couldn't be the work of a basketball game. Alice's theory was proved true when she saw Fabia hurling punches at Sid. Undoubtedly, a fight had erupted while Alice was gone but it wasn't just between the girls. Apparently the boys decided to have some fun as well. Clearly, the Brawlers had underestimated the Gundalians, which is saying something.

Alice knew Chan, Runo, and Fabia were fierce fighters but three against nine weren't any odds anyone would want to be up against unless of course, you're on the side with nine. But they weren't.

Fear paralyzed Fabia when she heard Kazarina give a hiss and say, "Listen girlies… I don't know what gears are running through your pretty heads. But keep them well-oiled to remember this: You do not defeat the Gundalians. You are not superior to the Gundalians. You are not in control of the game against the Gundalians. Those are the standard rules everyone must follow and has been following. But it seems as if you're new to these rules. No need to worry. We're here to teach you a lesson to fix that, aren't we?"

Alice's eyes widened when she saw Sid grab both of Fabia's wrists and spin her around so that her back was to his chest. Fabia screamed and thrashed to get free but Sid only increased his grip as he laughed with the others. Though she was paralyzed by fear, she could hear herself screaming inside her head. _MOVE! DAMMIT ALICE! MOVE NOW! _

But just as she was about to take another step, a voice interrupted her but it wasn't just any voice. It was a chilling voice that contained fury, hatred, and an aura of command indicating that you shouldn't even _think _to dare disobey this voice.

"Let her go, Sid."

It was Ren.


	31. A New Beginning

**Hey guys, if you haven't noticed, I had a new fanfic published! It's called **_**The Hunger Games, Disney Style. **_**As you can tell from the title, it's basically a fic containing Disney characters and themes but has the concept of the Hunger Games in it. Characters from the trilogy are not involved and the plot is different from the books for it features different characters' points of view. Movies included are from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios. I'd love it if you guys would drop by and review.**

**But of course, this story is my main priority. I will usually put this fic before the Disney one because it's going to come to a close soon. And for those of you who have read my Fabia and Ren one-shot, **_**Romeo, Juliet, and Fairy Tales, **_**be on the lookout for another one-shot containing the same couple! It will contain references from this story. **

**Thanks to those who reviewed: Laura B, JazzGirl123, Alana Fox, Hungryhippo1000, jazzmonkey, cheekymonkey2106, Crazy Cool Kid, and Icewings13. **

**Review Responses: **

**Laura B: Yes, the Gundalians are indeed in their human form. As for Mira and Ace…they're going to have a small, sort of like a side-line role. They will not arrive until a few more chapters, but they will make an appearance soon! **

**Crazy Cool Kid: I had a few Shun/Alice moments in the beginning of the story so I'm kind of swaying a bit from that pairing for now. Right now, I'm focusing a bit more on Fabia/Ren but I will promise that there will be more Shun/Alice romance soon. And hopefully Dan/Runo as well. I haven't planned anything out for Dan/Runo but I want to add in some because that pairing never really got a spotlight in this story. I'm actually preparing for some romance in the next chapter. **

**Enjoy!**

"…Ren?" asked Sid, still clutching Fabia tightly though Fabia was too shocked to continue to struggle.

"Are you deaf or something?" asked Ren, taking a step towards Sid. "Let her go, NOW!'

Sid dropped Fabia's hands and quickly backed away from her as if she had just burned him. Ren glanced at the Chan and Runo who were still on the floor, still bruised but also shocked. Alice too was taken by surprise but she had the unmistakable look of fear in her eyes from previous events.

"What did you guys do?" hissed Ren, glaring at his former teammates who easily detected the anger in his voice which he made no effort in hiding.

"We were just teaching them a lesson-" started Kazarina.

"You know, I don't think beating up people teaches anyone anything. I mean, you could damage their heads for one thing and that certainly won't leave room for learning."

"Shut up, Ren," said Mason, taking a step forward. "You're not the one calling the shots anymore. We may have been forced to listen to your lectures during the basketball season but that's history now, isn't it? I'm the captain now, I make the demands. And I demand that you turn around, and walk away with your mouth shut. You have no right to interfere in business that doesn't concern you."

"Ah, but this _does _indeed concern me. I'm part of their team now, you see."

Mason who had had his mouth open, ready to fire out a comeback before Ren finished talking, shut it at once, eyes widened. The rest of the Gundalians stared at Ren as if he had sprouted tentacles on his head.

"No way…" whispered Gill.

"You didn't," said Mason, staring at Ren as if challenging him to confirm what he just said.

Ren not only accepted that challenge but aced it with flying colors. "I did. And I must say that I don't regret joining their team," he added, thinking of Fabia.

Silence fell upon them and grew more tense with each passing minute. Finally, after a few minutes, Mason broke into a smirk. It didn't take long for the rest of the Gundalians to follow.

"Hmm…pity," started Mason, taking a step towards Ren. "Guess that means we'll need to teach you a lesson like we did to them." Mason jerked his head towards the girls.

Ren held his ground and gritted his teeth. "I'd like to see you try." It was now Ren's turn to initiate a challenge, one that Mason gladly accepted.

"Wish granted," said Mason, taking another step towards Ren who didn't flinch or take a step back. The Gundalians behind Mason followed his movements, each advancing towards Ren who still refused to move.

"And how," asked Kazarina, "do you plan on taking on all of us? I mean, there's nine of us and only one of you."

"You may want to recount, Kazarina."

Both teams turned their heads towards the sudden, unmistakable voice of the one and only, Dan Kuso. On either sides of him stood Billy, Joe, and Shun. They were angry enough, but the fact that their girlfriends, Billy excluded, were bruised and beaten (and it didn't take a detective to find out whose work that was), was not helping matters.

"Man, you heroes just love to show up at the last minute, don't you?" asked Mason, who was sick and tired of his fights being interrupted.

"You villains make it too easy," said Billy. He was the only one on the team without a significant other, but his friends were just as important as Julie. This is was one of those rare times where he was glad she had not joined.

"Maybe," said Sid, "but you're still outnumbered."

"Well you're outmatched," snapped Joe.

"Ooh…you wanna go toe to toe with us, pretty boy?" teased Kazarina.

"We don't," said Dan, jerking his head towards Shun. "But he does."

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

"Yeah, it's not like he's a ninja or something," said Joe, smirking.

"And it's not like he's got a black belt or something," added Billy.

The Gundalians glanced at each other and though they tried not to show it, they were worried. Sure they were persistent, but they knew their limits when it came to _them_ being threatened or attacked.

"Would you look at that," said Mason, suddenly very interested in his watch. "Practice for the Gundalians is over. Gundalians, move out!"

And as quickly as they arrived, they disappeared.

As soon as they were out of sight, Dan sighed, glad that he and the boys could escape the Gundalians' wrath without a scratch. The same, unfortunately, couldn't be said for the girls. Though Alice was physically okay, she still needed to recover mentally.

Billy volunteered to keep an eye out for the Gundalians in case they returned while Dan, Joe, and Shun approached their girls.

Ren, however, didn't move as Dan and the others brushed past him. He'd have gladly approached Fabia, but had a feeling Dan wouldn't approve. Besides, Shun seemed have taken over, checking over Fabia's bruised wrists before moving onto Alice.

"Ren."

"Eh?" Ren turned to face Dan, who surprisingly, wasn't shooting him any dirty looks.

"Uhm…I'd…never thought I'd say this but…thanks. Runo told me everything. About how you intervened into the fight and saved them."

Ren shrugged. "They only left when you guys came along."

"Yeah, but it took us a while to get here. Who knows what would've happened if you hadn't come around."

Ren gave another shrug.

"I'm sorry, too," continued Dan. "For my behavior towards you."

"Well I can't say I blame you," replied Ren. "After all, I'm your rival, aren't I?"

"Not anymore. We're on the same team now, aren't we? I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge it before; it was wrong of me. I wouldn't blame you if you want out on this team. I know that you were forced into joining, but I can talk to my dad about it and he might reconsider."

"Dan, do you think we can start over?"

"What?" asked Dan, a little startled by the sudden question.

"I mean, we both acted irrationally towards each other because we had been on previous teams before. But now that we're on the same side, do you think we can…work together without shooting daggers at each other?"

"You mean…you _want _to continue playing with us?"

"Yeah…" answered Ren, his lips forming a small smile.

"Can you forgive me?"

"Yeah. Can you forgive me?" Ren stuck out his hand.

"Yeah," said Dan, shaking it, his lips forming a genuine smile. "Glad to have you on the team."

"Likewise."


	32. Before the Big Game

**Hey guys, sorry I didn't update for three weeks. Here's why: I had writer's block…sorta. I knew what I wanted to write but I didn't know HOW to write it. I didn't know where to place a few scenes and didn't know if I should introduce this scene before that scene and whatnot. So I decided to write a chapter for **_**The Hunger Games, Disney Style **_**in hopes of inspiration. It helped…somewhat but not completely. But during the week I experimented with different types of scenes so there was a lot of deletion and addition to this chapter. That's why it took so long, but it all worked out in the end. Apologies. **

**Hungryhippo1000 told me that I should make my chapters longer, something that I agree with. My previous chapters used to be around 800 words, way too short. My goal for future chapters is to AT LEAST make them 1000 words and I know that even that can be too short of a chapter. But I'll do my best to make them longer. **

**Thanks to Laura B, Hungryhippo1000, Alana Fox, jazzmonkey, and JazzGirl123 for reviewing. **

**I haven't forgotten about the Bakugan. They're not in this chapter but there's definitely something coming up soon. **

**Enjoy! **

"TIME OUT!"

Huffing and puffing, Dan dropped the ball and scurried over to his teammates who were already gathered around his father.

"That was a nice shot, Dan," complimented Coach Kuso. "But we need to put more effort in this quarter. This is our last quarter, our last minute. We're up by two but they are slowly creeping up behind us. I know this isn't the finals but we need to treat it like one. If we don't, we won't be playing in the finals at all. Whatever you do, _do not let them score. _You got that?"

The team nodded. "All in," commanded Dan as everyone put their hands in the middle. "One, two, three…"

"BASKETBALL BRAWLERS!"

TWEET!

The sound of the referee's whistle brought the brawlers' attention back to the court. Dan, Chan, Ren, Billy, and Fabia took their positions while the rest shifted their eyes back and forth from the court to the scoreboard which read 42 to 40.

Number 24 from the Neathians passed the ball inside the court to Number 12 who lightly jogged towards the basket, allowing enough time for her teammate to trail her.

Without even turning her head, she passed to Number 52 who managed to shake off from Runo's aggressive defense in attempt to make a layup.

SLAM! Chan's high jump saves the day as she rejected the layup. Unfortunately, Number 12 grabbed the rebound and attempted to set up a play. But when she made another pass to 52, Runo was ready. She dashed in between the two Neathians but wasn't fast enough to intercept the ball. But her readiness didn't go to waste as the ball bounced off her hand and into the bleachers.

"Dammit," muttered Runo. "So close."

"Cheer up, Runo," said Dan. "You stopped them!"

Runo gave him a small smile and resumed her position. Dan returned the smile and glanced at the clock. 30 seconds left.

Number 24 passed in the ball to 52 who passed to 12 who shouted, "Crossfire!"

Number 18 who was positioned down low ran to 20 in attempt to set a screen.

"Watch the screen!" Ren called out.

Fabia heard just in time and pulled off a little spin move to avoid Number 18's screen. She ran after 20 who now had to spend his time shaking off her defense instead of calling for the ball.

20 seconds left.

Number 12 passed to 24 who tried to avenge 52's layup but was fortunately stopped by Ren who immediately towered over her.

10 seconds left.

Number 24 passed to 52 who planted her feet on the group and released the ball in an attempt to make a 3-pointer. It hit the backboard and landed into Dan's hands. The Brawlers were now in possession.

The Neathians quickly fell back to defend the basket. But Dan smirked as he slowly dribbled the ball towards his basket, ignoring his friends' calls for the ball. As he walked past the half-court line, he glanced at the clock.

3.

2.

1.

BUZZ!

"Aw…" mumbled the crowd, a few clapping out of politeness. After all, this was the gym of the Neathians. The Brawlers, however, were psyched.

"WE WON!" shrieked Runo as she dove into Dan's arms. "WE WON!"

"Nice stalling, son!" exclaimed Coach Kuso.

"WE'RE GOING TO THE CHAMPS!" roared Billy, punching his fist in the air.

"GUNDALIANS, HERE WE COME!" whooped Dan.

~Basketball Brawlers~

_Tuesday…_

The news of the semi-final win spread quickly throughout Vestal Academy, but it wasn't enough to spark much spirit from the school. After all, in the last two years when the school made it to the championships, they came home beat. With only one returning member on the team this year, did the Brawlers really stand a chance?

The only people who believed so were Julie, Jake, and Marucho.

"You'll be there right?" asked Dan during lunch. "At the game, I mean? It's going to be a home game."

"Of course!" replied Julie. "Someone needs to be there to cheer you on!"

"We don't have a game that day," said Jake. "Sure, why not?"

"Yeah, I think I can make it too," added Marucho. "No big tests or anything to study for. When's the game again?"

"Thursday at 4:30 at our gym."

"Thursday…huh? Hmm yeah…that's perfect."

"What's perfect?"

"You'll see," said Marucho, with a smile. "It's a surprise."

~Basketball Brawlers~

_Thursday…_

Tuesday and Wednesday passed by quickly, much too quickly even for Dan who would usually be at the back of the classroom counting down the seconds until the dismissal bell rang. But although he was nervous, he was also excited and ready to kick some Gundalian butt.

It was only 3:00; the Brawlers were supposed to meet in the gym at 3:30, one hour prior to the big game. How they spent the remaining 30 minutes was up to them, but no matter where each Brawler went, the subject of basketball was never avoided.

_With Joe and Chan…_

"I don't think so!" exclaimed Chan as she rejected Joe's shot, sending the ball back into his hands. The two were practicing for the championships on the outside courts for Billy and Julie had already claimed the gym. But they didn't mind; the only con of practicing outside was that they only had water to cool themselves down instead of air-conditioning.

Joe laughed and set up for another jump shot but it bounced off the rim and landed into Chan's hands who started taking off in the other direction.

"Pathetic…"

Chan and Joe immediately stopped in their tracks when they saw the Gundalians approaching.

"You're early," Joe commented.

"We came to see if our 'competition' had made any improvements so far in the gym but it turns out that isn't necessary anymore," replied Mason, opening his arms. "Here you are, right out in the open, still pathetic as always. And you're the only returning player on the team, aren't you? Guess we won't have to try in this game, just like in the last two years."

"Haven't you heard?" Chan interjected. "Third time's the charm. And Joe's not pathetic; you expect him to make every shot? I bet his accuracy is better than yours." She couldn't stand seeing her boyfriend ridiculed.

"Why don't you prove that?" asked Mason, rolling up his sleeves and locking eyes with Joe. "Right now? You and me."

"Save it for the championships," insisted Fabia but Joe stepped forward to accept Mason's challenge.

"It's all right, Fabia," said Joe, readying himself into a defensive stance. "This shouldn't take long."

_With Billy and Julie…_

"Give me a B! Give me an I! Give me a double L! Give me a Y! Goooo Billy!"

Billy grinned as he slam-dunked a ball into the basket with inspiration from his girlfriend's cheers.

Julie whooped and transitioned into another round of cheers while Billy grabbed the rebound and set up for another shot.

The two were in the gym earlier than required but there were no rules stating that a player couldn't get some extra practice in the gym before the championships. Besides, Coach Kuso had opened the gym for them so it was perfectly fine for the couple to have the entire gym all to themselves.

"Whew," sighed Billy as he slumped onto the bleachers which he hoped to be soon filled with cheering students from their school. "I am _so_ ready."

"Oh I'm sure you are," agreed Julie, giggling while tossing him a bottle of water. "But you better drink up. Don't need you dehydrated before the game even starts."

_With Shun and Alice…_

"Shun?" Alice called. She had been wandering the school for the past ten or so minutes searching for the ninja. She finally spotted him sitting on the branches of a tree in front of the school, eyes closed.

"Shu-" Alice started again but immediately stopped. He was meditating, probably not the best time to interrupt. She started to walk back but then-

"Yes, Alice?"

Alice turned around to see Shun's eyes open. He swung his legs out and let them sway with the breeze, holding out a hand to Alice. "Come up."

"Are-are you sure?" asked Alice, hesitantly. "I hope I'm not interrupting-"

"You're not. It's fine."

Alice walked to the tree, grasped Shun's hand, and let him pulled her up to the branch beside him. "What's up?" he asked, gazing at the cloudless sky.

"Are you ready?" asked Alice.

"For the game?"

"Yes."

"I guess you could say I am. Are you?"

"I guess you could say I'm not."

"Why is that?"

Alice got straight to the point. "I'm scared."

"Of the Gundalians?"

"Bit, but mostly I'm scared of letting the team down. I mean, remember what happened in the first game? I missed the pass and Dan started to-"

"Well Dan was just overreacting and being stupid-"

"But the point is that it _happened. _ I just don't want it to happen again because a simple mistake like that can bring the whole team down." Alice hated feeling guilty.

"Well, that's just how team sports work, Alice," said Shun. "You screw up, you screw everyone else up."

Alice hung her head.

"But when you succeed, so does the rest of the team."

Alice lifted her head to come face to face with a smiling Shun. "Trust me. You'll succeed."

_With Dan and Runo…_

"Runo, I need to ask you something and I need your honest opinion," said Dan. He and Runo were lying down on their backs on the soft grass, gently enjoying the breeze and each other's company.

"Shoot," replied Runo.

"Do you think I'm a good team captain? Do you even think I should've been team captain?"

Runo didn't respond right away.

"Well?"

"I'm thinking," replied Runo. After another moment of silence, she sighed. "I will say this, Dan. Personally, I think Joe would make a better team captain in terms of basketball skills and experience. However, that doesn't mean you're a terrible captain. Joe has experience, that's it. You…well you're you. But if it hadn't been for you, none of us would be here right now. Not even Joe. Yeah, there's a low chance that we'll actually win the championships but you gave this school a third shot. And you know what they say, third time's the charm. But here's the point I'm trying to make. You inspired us to join, inspired us to keep going. Yeah, in the beginning you really went overboard with yelling at Alice and Ren but you've matured. I say, if there's anyone that deserves to be captain, it's you."

Dan smiled. "I remember you were the first to nominate me for captain."

Runo returned the smile with a kiss. "And I never doubted my decision even for a bit."

_With Fabia and Ren…_

"How bad is it?" asked Fabia as Ren checked her wrists, analyzing the damage Sid had done.

"Could be worse," said Ren running his thumbs over her palms. "At least he didn't do anything to your hands. But you'll need to flick your wrist when shooting the ball, so I think it's best if you sit out."

Fabia snatched her hands back and shook her head. "What kind of suggestion is that? This is our last game! I HAVE to play!"

"And risk breaking your wrists? There's always next year."

"There's no guarantee I'll be on the team next year. Besides, there's no way I'm going to let the Gundalians get away with this, especially Kazarina. She was the one encouraging Sid."

"But-"

"I'm playing," interrupted Fabia. "And that's final."

Ren sighed and dropped the topic but was hesitant to bring up a new one. "Fabia…there's something you should know before playing this game. I should've told you this a long time ago…but…"

"But what?"

"You see-"

"Fabia! Ren!" The couple turned to see Billy and Julie bursting from the back gym doors, heading towards them. "It's 3:25! Better start heading to the gym now."

"Why were you in the gym?" asked Fabia.

"Oh we were practicing," replied Julie. "Well Billy was at least. Coach Kuso let us in but he wants us now to round up the team so here we are. Know where the others are?"

"Right here, Billy."

Shun and Alice emerged from around the corner, Shun looking calm as usual and Alice looking nervous yet determined.

"Dan and Runo are coming," said Alice and sure enough, the said couple arrived a few moments later, hand in hand.

"Great, now all we need are Chan and Joe," said Billy.

"I thought I saw them practicing on the courts outside of the gym," said Ren.

"Well you were right," said Runo when she saw Chan and Joe coming from the direction of the courts. But something wasn't right. Joe had his arm over Chan's shoulders who was supporting his weight as he hopped over towards the Brawlers.

"Joe!" exclaimed Dan, rushing over to his friend as Chan helped him settle down onto a bench. "What happened?"

Joe merely shook his head and rubbed his right leg.

"Well?" asked Dan, turning to Chan.

Chan sighed. "His leg is broken. I-I don't think he can participate in the championships."


	33. Bring on the Bakugan

**Huge apology to everyone who waited for this update. I was originally going to separate this into two or three chapters but decided that all of you guys who stuck with me through these years finally deserve an update, and a grand finale at that.**

**Many people have asked for updates and I've been meaning to get back to you guys (and then along comes school and all its complications) and well, you get the picture.**

**Finally, when Daya Coleman PMed me, I thought enough was enough that I should get off my lazy butt and try to finish the final chapter. I gave myself the deadline of a week (and had to extend it a bit due to school). This is the result.**

**Advanced apology for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.**

**Thank you so much to those who favorited, followed, read, and/or reviewed this story. I may do a re-do of this story to update the quality but as for now, enjoy! **

"We're screwed."

"Gee, you think?"

Dan and Billy watched as Chan tried to talk soothingly to Joe who was sitting on the bleachers with a cast on his leg and his head buried in his hands.

"Poor Joe," said Billy. "And at the last game too."

"Poor us," said Dan. "We've lost our best player!"

"Not exactly," replied Billy with a quick glance at Ren who was shooting hoops, getting warmed up for the game.

Dan sighed. It still would've been great to have Joe, especially after all his hard work.

"There they are."

The Brawlers turned towards the door to see the Gundalians walk inside the gym, faces smirking and full of triumph.

"Jerks," Dan growled.

"We can't do anything about it now," said Shun. "Not while we're in here with teachers, referees, and students-"

"What students?" asked Runo, gesturing to the bleachers. The only students present were Joe (who didn't exactly count), Julie, Jake, and Marucho. The rest of the seats were empty.

"They don't have high hopes for our win," explained Alice sadly.

"I don't blame them," muttered Fabia.

TWEET! "Okay, team, hustle!" ordered Coach Kuso as the Brawlers gathered around. "Look, I know this looks bad. I know we have an injured player, but guys, this is our last game. Let's make something out of it, okay?"

The Brawlers nodded half-heartedly.

"Starters will be Chan, Runo, Billy, Dan, and Ren. Now let's go out there and play some ball. Break!"

~Basketball Brawlers~

"So glad to see you again, Ren," cackled Kazarina as the Brawlers scattered throughout the court.

Ren did nothing but narrow his eyes as he took his position behind Chan who was getting ready for the jump start.

The referee raised his hand and up the ball went, hovering a few seconds before Chan plucked it out of the air.

"Go, Chan!" cheered Joe from the bleachers.

Chan threw the ball to Runo who dribbled towards the basket before she was blocked by Kazarina.

"Over here!"

Runo chucked the ball to Ren who cross-dribbled to avoid a steal from Mason before jumping and shooting a three-pointer.

"Nice one!" Fabia cried.

"Don't push your luck, traitor," hissed Kazarina. "We have plenty of tricks up our sleeves."

And as if to prove it, after Kazarina passed the ball to Mason, he sped towards the Brawlers before they could even set up a press and landed a quick easy two points.

"It's okay!" Alice shouted. "It's okay!" It was okay; they were leading by one point. But the Gundalians were eager to change that.

Two points from the Brawlers, then three, five, nine points from the Gundalians. The scoreboard was now Brawlers: 5, Gundalians: 11.

"Something's not right," mumbled Shun as the Gundalians scored another two points. "The Gundalians are making all their shots. They're good, but no one's _that_ good."

Shun observed the court. He watched closely as Sid stole the ball from Billy and jumped from the three-point line. Shun narrowed his eyes as the ball soared towards the hoop. It looked like it was about to hit the corner and rebound back but a small force pushed it towards the net and Shun doubted it was the wind. The doors of the gym were closed after all.

"Gather around!" yelled Coach Kuso as the buzzer sounded to end the quarter. The score was now Brawlers: 12, Gundalians: 20.

"Okay, I know you guys are putting in your all out there, but-"

"The Gundalians are cheating," Shun interrupted.

Coach Kuso stared at him. "What?"

"They're cheating. I don't know how, but I know they are. That last shot, it was supposed to bounce off the corner, or even lodge itself in the corner, but something pushed it into the hoop. I couldn't see what it was, but I know what I saw so far isn't a lie."

"That's ridiculous, Shun," replied Coach Kuso. "I know the Gundalians are winning by a long shot but that doesn't mean-"

"Shun's right," said Ren as everyone locked their eyes on him. "The Gundalians are cheating. I know because…because I've done it before with them while I was on their team."

"What?" asked Fabia as she pushed her way towards Ren. "You-you knew they were cheating all along?"

"Yes," Ren sighed. "I wanted to tell you this before-"

"So why didn't you?" Fabia demanded. "You've had plenty of opportunities! Our practices, classes, lunches. Why wait until the day of the game?"

"I see what's going on here," Dan butted in. "You were planning to help the Gundalians win all this time, weren't you?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Ren. "Did you not see me score that three-pointer in the beginning? Did you not hear Kazarina call me a traitor?"

"That was all probably just to confuse us. A disguise. You may be wearing a Brawler's uniform but you're still a Gundalian at heart, aren't you?"

"I-"

TWEET! The referee's whistle blew.

"C'mon, team, we need to wrap it up," said Coach.

"We already did," said Dan with a glare at Ren.

"All right, same people as the starting five on the court."

"No, I want Ren out of this," said Dan.

"Are…are you sure, Captain?"

"Yes."

"I agree with Dan," said Shun as he glanced at the rest of the team who quickly murmured agreements.

Ren's heart sank when Fabia mumbled, "So do I."

"Okay…since the team feels so strongly about this, I'm sorry, Ren, but I'm going to have to bench you."

Ren didn't argue as he walked towards the bench and sat as far as he could from the team, including Joe.

~Basketball Brawlers~

When the second quarter ended, the score was Brawlers: 20, Gundalians: 33

Dan had demanded that Ren stay on the bench for the rest of the game, meaning he wouldn't be allowed in team huddles. But thanks to his father's scolding, a reluctant Ren was invited inside the team huddle.

"I saw what Shun saw," said Fabia. "Something is controlling the ball as it gets closer to the net. But I don't know what it was. It's too small and the basket is too high."

"It's a Bakugan," interjected Ren.

Fabia turned to glare at him. "Excuse me?"

"The Gundalians place two of their Bakugan on each side of the hoop's rim. That way, as the ball soars towards the basket, the Bakugan, in the ball form, can assure it gets inside the net. They're small but effective, especially since the referees can't spot them. When it's time to switch baskets during halftime, the Gundalians will simply place their Bakugan on the other net. See, look at Kazarina right now."

The Brawlers stared as Kazarina ran towards the basket to attempt a layup. Her layup was a success, but the Brawlers also caught her hand touching the rim where she placed her Haos Lumagrowl.

"If we can get rid of them, we can win the game," continued Ren. "Of course, we'll have a lot of catching up to do in terms of points, but at least we'll slow them down. We're not going to sink to their level and add our own Bakugan into the mess."

"Hold on a second, did you just say 'we?'" asked Dan.

"Yes, we," replied Ren, standing his ground. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, all right? I didn't like the idea of betraying my team. And when you acted cold and hostile towards me, that only fueled the flame. But when Fabia talked to me, and more importantly, listened to me and how I was feeling, that changed me. Why do you think I intervened during the fight at the park between the girls and the Gundalians? Whose side did I choose?"

The Brawlers were silent.

"Now, if we want to win, we'll need an accurate shot since none of just can jump high enough to knock them off the rim. Not accurate as in 'goes through the net.' Accurate as in 'hits the corner close enough to knock down the two Bakugan.' Remember, they're small but strong so I expect them to hold on for dear life as we pummel them with shots. So our shots have to be strong too. Also, we need an excuse, since we're aiming for their basket instead of ours. We can just say we were confused or something. It's halftime after all and it's understandable for someone to forget we switched baskets. Finally, be very, very careful not to actually make it inside the basket because then we're just giving them free points. Got it?"

The Brawlers nodded.

"Why didn't they put any Bakugan on our basket?" asked Runo. "You know, to maybe guide the ball out of the net instead of inside."

"That would be too suspicious," explained Ren. "Plus, guiding it inside the net takes less effort."

"Does Barodius know about this?" asked Billy.

"We never told him," replied Ren. "We just did it. But to be honest, I don't think he would've stopped us."

BUZZ! The buzzer sounded to signal the beginning of the 3rd quarter.

"Okay, once you've knocked down their Bakugan, toss them to me," added Coach Kuso. "I'll keep an eye on them to make sure the Gundalians don't try their dirty tricks again. Make it look like you're doing an air high-five to avoid suspicion."

"Good thinking, Dad, I mean Coach," said Dan. "Let's go team!"

"Fabia, Ren, Alice, Shun, and Chan, you're up."

~Basketball Brawlers~

The Gundalians were in possession. After Lena passed the ball to Stoica, he slowly dribbled the ball towards the hoop. As he got closer, the Brawlers tensed but they were ready.

Suddenly changing speed, Stoica zoomed towards the basket and passed it to Zenet who shot the ball. Fabia, who had been guarding Zenet, ran past her opponent and jumped, striking the ball against the rim. The ball bounced off and landed into Chan's hands who immediately took off towards the Brawlers' basket.

Meanwhile, Fabia had scooped up the fallen Haos Lumagrowl who started to spit out insults in protest.

"Unhand me, Neathian!" it demanded.

"Oh, shut up," said Fabia as she tossed it towards Coach Kuso, pausing for a few seconds to hold out her palm. Coach Kuso did the same and gave her a thumbs-up, and indication that he had the Bakugan under control.

Fabia glanced at her basket just in time to see Chan score two points and smiled. The plan was going smoothly. She didn't even need to use the planned excuse.

"Nice one, Fabia," said Ren, smiling. "C'mon, team. We still have one more Bakugan to take care of."

"I believe it's Mason's Bakugan," said Fabia. "Subterra Avior."

"It doesn't matter whose Bakugan it is," said Dan. "We're gonna take it down. Get ready."

The Brawlers got into their defensive positions as Airzel started dribbling their way. He attempted a pass towards Gill, but it was intercepted by Alice who jumped and shot the ball, aiming towards the corner. Unfortunately, it bounced off the backboard, hit the rim, and went inside the net.

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Alice. "I thought it was our basket!" In reality, she was apologizing because she had made the basket instead of the corner.

"Alice, it's all right," said Dan as the Gundalians laughed, racing each other towards the Brawlers' basket. "Look."

The Brawlers glanced at the Subterra Avior who was struggling on the ground to get to his feet. Despite Alice's aim, the shot was probably pretty strong. "Go to your positions," said Dan as he picked up the Bakugan, disguised his toss as a high-five towards his dad, and took off towards his basket.

~Basketball Brawlers~

BUZZ! The 3rd quarter ended.

"Nice job, everyone," complimented Coach Kuso.

"It was mostly Ren's idea," said Dan. "He deserves our thanks and apologies."

"Sorry, man," said Billy as he patted Ren on the back. The rest of the team followed suit.

"To be fair, I wouldn't blame you for not trusting me," said Ren, smiling. "Apology accepted."

"I think the Gundalians know their Bakugan is missing," said Runo, nodding towards their opponents. The Gundalians were huddled next to their coach and were shooting darts towards the Brawlers.

"They don't have any replacement Bakugan, right?" asked Shun.

Ren shook his head. "They underestimate their opponents."

"Their mistake," said Dan.

"Agreed," said Coach Kuso. "Now this is our last game, our last quarter. Focus on bringing up our points. We have 33 and they have 45. They won't be scoring as much now but we still need to take this seriously. We've made it this far. Let's finish strong, all right? All in."

"BASKETBALL BRAWLERS!" everyone shouted as they threw their hands in the air.

"Dan, Alice, Shun, Billy, and Runo, you're up."

Runo quickly took her place beside the referee. After receiving the ball, she passed it to Billy who slowly dribbled towards the court with Runo trailing behind.

Shun ran up from the left wing and received the ball from Billy who cut behind Stoica. Seeing Billy's outstretched hands, Shun chucked the ball towards Billy who caught it and jumped, shooting the ball.

Swish! Two points.

"All right, let's go, let's go!" exclaimed Coach Kuso.

Slowly but surely, the Brawlers increased their score with everyone proving to be an amazing player. Shun stole the ball at least five times, twice from an enraged Kazarina. Thanks to Alice's stamina, she was able to outrun Gill to pass the ball to Billy who again easily scored two points. Runo and Dan worked like a well-oiled machine, switching defense when necessary and confusing their opponents.

When Shun shot another goal, the Brawlers heard something they haven't heard in a while: cheering.

The gym was _packed._ Boys and girls, even the upperclassmen had come to watch the game. Even though cheerleading was reserved more for football, Julie's entire squad made an appearance and were cheering and shouting like there was no tomorrow. With a glance at the suddenly open gym doors, the Brawlers saw that Jake and Marucho were ushering people in, screaming things like "This is one game you don't wanna miss!" or "The score is so close!"

The score indeed was close. As the quarter's final minute approached, the score was Brawlers: 49, Gundalians: 50.

"Hustle, hustle, hustle!" ordered Coach Kuso.

The Brawlers were in possession with Runo switched out for Chan. As Chan dribbled towards the basket, Mason swooped in and stole the ball, running in the other direction which caused the audience to groan.

Fortunately, Shun, who had been guarding Jesse, noticed Mason the moment he bounded towards Chan. Leaving his post, he bolted towards Mason, kidnapped the ball, and sped back towards the basket.

The Gundalians were getting desperate as they closed in on Shun. After passing it to Dan, he glanced at the clock.

20 seconds left.

Dan was about to jump before Sid towered over him with his arms high. Thinking quickly, Dan crouched slightly to pass it towards Runo who quickly passed it back to Shun.

10 seconds.

As the point guard, Shun looked desperately at his teammates who were heavily blocked by the Gundalians. Shun, himself, was being guarded by a vengeful Mason.

5 seconds.

A light bulb popped into Shun's head. He quickly dribbled towards the free-throw line, drawing the Gundalians towards him. At the last second, he threw the ball to Alice who was a bit nervous but prepared.

3 seconds.

This was it. The shot that could either make or break the team. Bending her knees, she jumped and released the ball.

The crowd held their breaths as the ball teetered slowly around the rim, once…

2 seconds.

Twice…

1 second.

And dropped innocently inside the net.

The gym exploded. Jake and Marucho whooped from the gym doors. Julie's squad screamed and squealed as Julie herself rushed towards the court and into Billy's arms. Dan and Runo embraced each other, cheering while jumping up and down. Chan ran towards Joe to give him a kiss and a hug, careful not to injure him any further. Fabia jumped into Ren's arms and kissed him full on the mouth. His eyes widened at the impact but nevertheless, enjoyed it as he returned the kiss and spun her around.

Shun ran over towards Alice to congratulate her.

"Nice shot," said Shun. "You won us the game."

"Thanks," replied Alice blushing. "But you know, it was a team effort. If it wasn't for your pass, and Runo's-"

But Shun had cut her off with a kiss. Shocked yet pleased, Alice closed her eyes and deepened the kiss, wrapping her arms around Shun's.

"Finally," giggled Runo as Dan put his arm around her waist.

"Yeah," agreed Dan, smiling. "About time."

"Congratulations, guys!"

Runo and Dan turned at the familiar voice to see an old friend. Baron, hyper as always, was jumping up and down on the bleachers. Next to him, Ace and Mira, hand in hand, waved and cheered.

"Marucho invited them," explained Runo as she and Dan waved back. "I accidentally overheard him talking with Jake and Julie. He made me swear not to tell anyone."

"I'll be sure to thank him," replied Dan. "It's always good to see old friends."

"Team, gather!" ordered Coach Kuso.

As Dan and Runo walked towards their coach, they glanced at Fabia hugging Serena and Ren hugging Nurzak before jogging towards the team.

"Look who decided to drop by," said Coach Kuso as he stepped aside to reveal a familiar face.

"Coach Harben!" exclaimed Dan as the Brawlers rushed to embrace their laughing coach.

"Amazing," started Coach Harben. "Simply amazing. Alice, that was an excellent shot back there but really, everyone contributed to this win. Everyone. I'm very sorry I had to leave so unexpectedly. My sister in Maryland isn't entirely cured, but she's feeling better so I thought I'd drop by. And I'm glad I did. This is the most dedicated team I've ever coached, or half-coached, but I think that Mr. Kuso here deserves the honor. Coach, any last words?"

"Well, I can't really say that this is the best team I've ever coached because this is indeed my first coaching experience," said Coach Kuso. "But I will say this: if I ever do continue coaching, you will always be my first team. One I'll never forget. You make me proud to be your coach."

The Brawlers smiled. Dan even started to get teary-eyed but Runo decided to let it slide instead of making fun of it.

"C'mon, hands in, everyone," said Coach Kuso. "You too, Coach Harben. Last one of the reason. Ready? One, two three…"

"BASKETBALL BRAWLERS!"

The End


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